How Never-Trump Could Still Stir Up Trouble Today
— -- The last hopes of never-Trump may have collapsed Monday afternoon with a bang, but its reverberations will likely still be felt today. They lost the fight, but there may still be a show.
What to Watch
The state delegation roll call vote for the presidential nomination today. This is when delegates cast their votes and Donald Trump will officially win the GOP nomination.
What Could Happen
Individual delegates could stand up and protest that their votes are not being announced and recorded correctly. The head of the anti-Trump group, Dane Waters, said late last week the roll call wouldn't be "some quiet little rodeo."
"These individuals are extremely passionate about the right to vote their conscience," Waters said. "So I can't imagine that people are going to sit around and not do anything."
Could This Go Anywhere?
No. The RNC says that votes will be recorded according to how delegates are bound by the primaries and caucuses.
But They Are Still Allowed to Raise a Fuss?
They could. Delegates are allowed to protest if they think their vote wasn't announced correctly. Anti-Trump efforts say there will be delegates who believe they should be unbound who will try to raise trouble if their vote is counted for Trump anyway. "What's going to happen ... during the nomination? Who knows," Waters said.
Delegate Kendal Unruh implied that Monday’s fireworks would lead to more today, saying, "Do you think people are going to be more likely to cooperate now or less likely to cooperate?"
And What Happened on Monday Exactly?
Never-Trump eventually flopped, but it was an embarrassing moment for Donald Trump that highlights the division still lurking in the party. Never-Trump tried to force a state-by-state vote on the convention rules package, so they could try to vote it down. They said they had enough signatures from delegates to force a state-by-state vote, but the chair said they did not.
The convention held a voice vote and said that the rules passed. Monday’s chaos shows today could be quite a scene.
Just for Reference
Rule 37(b). "If exception is taken by any delegate from that state to the correctness of such announcement by the chairman of that delegation, the chairman of the convention shall direct the roll of members of such delegation to be called, and then shall report back the result to the convention at the conclusion of balloting by the other states. The result shall then be recorded in accordance with the vote of the several delegates in such delegation."
