Unless they change the rule.
I strongly doubt that they will. The RNC is already on eggshells about the rules and making sure it comes across as fair as possible, lest they wind up with a situation on their hands.
That said, the rules currently are what they are and any questions about what could happen can only be answered with them as they currently stand. Hypothetically, the punishment for changing your vote could be ten minutes of alligator wrestling if they change the rules to make it so.
Isn’t “being able to vote in place of a delegate” the sole reason alternates exist?
Also note that:
(a) Rule 40(d) says that a candidate requires a majority of the votes “entitled to be cast” in order to receive the nomination, so delegates not voting are not simply ignored; and,
(b) according to Rule 32, a motion to suspend the rules can be submitted from the floor at any time; this requires a majority of the delegates of each of eight states (one to make the motion, and seven more to second it), but obviously any motion that has any chance of passing would have this.
Let’s say that the Rules Committee steam rolls Trump and denies him a majority (assuming he has enough pledged delegates to win on the first ballot). Who is their candidate? Cruz? I think they hate him more than Trump. It would almost have to be Kasich, but then they will face unyielding criticism that they handed the nomination to the guy who only won a single state: his home state.
However, he is the guy that the polls show is leading Hillary Clinton and would be all but guaranteed to deliver Ohio, a crucial swing state, in the GOP column. If I was on the Rules Committee, that’s what I would do.
That’s not actually what it says:
So suppose a delegate pledged to Trump instead votes for Cruz on the first ballot. Under the current rules, that delegate’s vote for Cruz will not be recognized, but that’s not the same as saying that it’ll be recognized as a Trump vote. It looks to me like that delegate’s vote just wouldn’t count at all, either way. Which, given the other rules and the current makeup of the delegates, makes it effectively as good as a Cruz vote anyway.
@UltraVires:
The rules committee isn’t made up of party assigned members. They come from the delegate pool. I find it pretty unlikely they suggest rules that explicitly reject Trump and/or Cruz.
https://gop.com/convention-facts/?convention_type=rules
And seriously what kind of rule you think they could adopt to “deny Trump the majority” that wouldn’t get them burned at the stake?
But prior to that, it says that “The Secretary of the Convention shall faithfully announce and record each delegate’s vote in accordance with the delegate’s obligation under these rules…” which would imply that the Secretary is going to record each delegates first ballot vote per that delegate’s obligation regardless of whatever nonsense the delegate wants to get into. So a Trump delegate voting for Cruz won’t be recognized as such but would rather be recorded per their obligation (Trump).
That’s just my reading though. I am not a convention rules lawyer.
He didn’t say you were wrong; he said you were inaccurate.
And then you went and proved he was correct to do so.
Way to throw me under the bus.
I REALLY ought to read to the end of a thread before I post. :smack:
Last minute prediction:
Hillary wins by 55-45
Trump wins by 60
I knew Trump would get this far and people told me not worry about it So you’re not the only one that thought Trump wouldn’t get this far. I just don’t understand why Trump has gotten this far , he does nothing for me.
While I appreciate the effort, he is right, and I was wrong. If Trump wins all the delegates in May, he will be about 70 short. I misread his post to include California (and the other primaries that day).
This is a momentous day in American politics, with TRUMP the overwhelming favourite to be the next Republican nominee for President. Yes you read that right. A man who is against promiscuous free trade, is supportive of maintaining Social Security and Medicare, wants to give the government the power to negotiate to lower the price of pharmaceuticuals, and denounced George W. Bush for lying about the Iraq War and letting 9/11 happen on his watch on national television will be the nominee. Thank God. Hallelujah.
TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP!
Sorry. Got a bit carried away…
Sanders is really carrying his own, it is neck and neck with 15% of the vote in. When they first started counting Clinton was ahead by 10 points at least.
Edit: Sanders just overtook Clinton with 17% of the vote in.
And a birther, other conspiracy theorist, regular liar, and regular stater of misogynist and racist things! Go Trump go!
Ha, Sanders is winning in Clinton countyin Indiana.
And stay gone! 
Crap. Todd Young is in the lead. I voted in the Republican primary to vote against this asshole.
BTW: a lot of Indiana voters cross-over voted, or so the buzz is, so I wouldn’t make too much either of Clinton being behind or Trump being way in the lead. A lot of Hoosiers figured that Clinton pretty much has the nomination sewed up, and Trump will be easier for her to beat, what with the numbers of people who have sworn to stay home if he wins, and then there’s the Todd Young issue.
Don’t worry. The odds of Trump winning in November…
Oddshack.
Hillary Clinton -340
Donald Trump +280
Bernie Sanders +2500
Ted Cruz +2500
John Kaisch +10000