State parties reach out to Arizona GOP after novel virtual convention, staffer says

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Several state parties have reached out to Arizona’s Republican Party this week after the it ran a virtual state convention last weekend due to the coronavirus, according to a staffer.

More than 1,100 Arizona Republicans participated in Saturday’s convention to vote for the state’s 54 delegates for the national convention this summer in North Carolina.

Communications Director Zach Henry told Fox News while Utah used the same app for electronic voting during their convention a few weeks ago, Arizona was the first state to incorporate live streaming and telephone townhall elements.

“Livestreaming the events of the day and syncing that up with our telephone to allow anyone, anywhere to watch or hear the day's proceedings in real-time was first put into practice on Saturday in Arizona,” he added.

DEMOCRATS TAKE FIRST STEPS TOWARD POSSIBLE VIRTUAL CONVENTION 

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said during the convention that state Chairwoman Kelli Ward not only came up with the virtual model but “the RNC asked her to present this to other state parties and it’s being duplicated across the country and it’s allowing us to deliver delegates to President Trump in a timely manner."

The party used Voatz, a mobile elections platform, and Phoenix-based video production company Visual Impulse to pull off the convention.

Ward called it an "enormous undertaking."

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“Never before has a political party attempted to plan and carry out a convention of this scale and magnitude – amid a global pandemic – in a similar virtual manner," she said in a statement. "Yet not only did we succeed in what was previously uncharted territory; we trailblazed the way for others to follow.”