Paul supporters accused the Romney crowd Saturday of dirty tricks to garner more delegates. "We came here to see democracy in action. We are floored by what happened, absolutely floored to see the cheating," said Elizabeth Shardlow of Auburn, a Paul activist.

Charles Cragin, a Romney supporter who lost Saturday's bid to chair the convention, called the turn of events at the Maine convention "bizarre." Cragin said the Paul-led delegation may not be recognized at the national convention because of violations of rules of procedure this weekend in Augusta.

"They have so phenomenally screwed this up that they will go to Tampa and not be seated," Cragin said.

Another Romney supporter, delegate John Carson of Kittery, acknowledged "this is a split convention."

"The Paul supporters have had a successful process and should be congratulated on that," said Carson, a veteran of numerous state conventions. "I think it's important that the Romney camp and Paul camp come together and support a single candidate," Carson said, adding that candidate should be Romney.