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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAll (Republican) delegates are unbound
As the Republican National Convention prepares to kick off next week in Cleveland, there is a lot of confusion and controversy over the question of whether delegates to the convention are bound to vote for any particular candidate as a result of primary or caucus results, or state party directions.
The controversy stems from the fact that a large number of delegates believe they cannot in good conscience vote for presumed nominee Donald Trump, while the confusion stems from either a misunderstanding of the history and rules of the Republican National Convention, or more recently a blizzard of misinformation and misdirection coming from those who wish delegates were bound
Here are the facts about delegates to the Republican National Convention and efforts to bind their vote according to primary results or instructions from their state party.
Republican delegates to the national convention have always been unbound by national party rules, with the single exception. The issue was decisively settled in 1876 when delegates voted 395 to 353 to uphold past rulings stating that delegates could not be bound to vote against their conscience. Following the vote, the chairman of the convention summarized the partys position by saying [ I]t is he right of every individual member thereof to vote his individual sentiments.
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http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/287198-all-delegates-are-unbound
stopbush
(24,401 posts)The chances of a pledged delegate - who was hand picked by a D candidate - switching their vote on the first ballot is nil.
pipoman
(16,038 posts)The wishes of those they are sent to represent.
Delegates for both parties should be required to vote on behalf of their constitutients imho...
totodeinhere
(13,059 posts)treated as an objective analysis of the situation.
Most neutral observers think that there is no way that the convention will be able to dump Trump.
The anti-Trump forces must be pretty desperate if they are trotting out some obscure proceeding from 1876.