Contested Convention

by CJM , Wednesday, March 16, 2016, 20:06 (3177 days ago) @ Art

As the Republican rules are now, for the first ballot all of the delegates from the various states must follow the results of the primaries and caucuses; the Republicans do have some (100+) party delegates that aren't selected by the states and can vote for anyone even in the first ballot. If no one has a majority in that first vote, then all bets are off and by the rules of the party any delegate can vote for anyone nominated for the next round of voting, the nominations can come from the floor (any delegate) for any round after the first round. I think that some of the states have rules that say that the states delegates have to continue to vote for the person selected by the state primary/caucus - not sure if the states rule can over-ride the Republican party rule of being able to vote for anyone. If Trump doesn't manage to get an outright majority in the delegate count to win that first ballot then it's going to be a real mess; he's already threatened riots and I foresee lots of lawsuits over delegate votes and party rules. And if the Republican party changes the rules between now and the convention anything could happen.