Civic lesson: Illinois Primary "Loophole"

Huh?

All 69 of Illinois' delegates to the Republican National Convention will be bound to Presidential Candidates based on the results of today's Illinois Presidential Primary.

• 54 National Convention District delegates are elected in a so-called "Loophole" primary (a Delegate Selection Primary combined with an Advisory "beauty contest" presidential preference vote). Each candidate for [District] delegate ... must file a Statement of Presidential Preference supporting a specific presidential candidate, or a statement that he/she intends to run uncommitted [SBE No. P-1E]. District delegates are directly elected by the voters and individually listed on the ballot with their presidential preferences indicated.
• 12 National Convention Statewide Delegates are bound winner-take-all to the candidate receiving the largest number of votes statewide. These delegates do not appear on the ballot and are chosen at the State Convention.
• The 3 party leaders, the National Committeeman, the National Committeewoman, and the chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, will attend the convention, by virtue of their position, bound winner-take-all to the candidate receiving the largest number of votes statewide.

RedState.com further explains -

So, what about the other 54 delegates? That’s where the “loophole” comes in.

Along with voting for presidential candidates, you also vote for the delegates at the same time. This means you can in theory vote for John Kasich (why) in the primary, but vote for Ted Cruz’s delegates in your Congressional District’s race. This means that it is entirely possible for, say, Donald Trump to win the popular vote, and therefore those 15 delegates, but Cruz could win more Congressional Delegates. Though it is rare for such a thing to happen, that is the hope of several conservatives in Illinois and elsewhere.

 Quadrangle also tries to clear the confusion -

Technically, Illinois holds a "loophole" primary in which district-level delegates will be elected directly on the ballot. And that has candidates packing events and pleading for votes around the region. The remainder of the delegates will be divided proportionately among candidates based on their statewide vote, with 15 percent again the minimum threshold to get delegates.

 Totally understood.