This week both parties are selecting delegates to their July conventions.

That way, the overall vote can be broken down by party for purposes of selecting delegates.

The Illinois primary required voters to select individual delegates, not presidential candidates.

Proxies are allowed except when selecting delegates for the national convention.

The 18th National Congress will have 2270 delegates selected from 40 constituencies.

Prior to selecting delegates, a non-binding primary election was held June 5, 2012.

Next week's Iowa caucuses are the first major event in the process of selecting delegates to the national conventions.

For both parties, the caucuses over the weekend were the first step toward selecting delegates to the national conventions this summer.

Such straw polls can be taken before selecting delegates and voting on resolutions.

If voters say yes, they will select delegates in November next year, and the convention will open the following spring.