Unless something major happens, the Republican Party will hold a contested convention. We have to make sure party leaders don’t ignore the will of the people in the process.
To be the Republican nominee, a candidate needs a majority, 1,237 delegates. If no candidate reaches that threshold, the nomination process becomes contested, and most delegates become unbound. They are free to vote for whichever candidate they choose and the voting process continues until one candidate has a delegate majority.
The “Anyone but Trump” Americans look at a contested convention as a gift, providing them with the opportunity to upset the current delegate count and muscle Trump out of the nomination.
The delegates represent the votes of the people, and allowing the delegates to freely choose after the first round erases the voters’ say in the process. Although Trump may not have a clear majority of delegates, he will definitely have a sizable plurality.
No other Republican candidate has a reasonable mathematical probability of reaching a majority, and there is no way to ask for the people’s second choice. Rather than disregarding people’s votes, party leaders need to listen to what their base wants.
The saving grace of democracy might come in the form of the GOP’s “Rule 40,” updated in 2012. This rule states that a candidate is only eligible for consideration at the convention if he or she previously won at least eight state primary contests. The votes of the people stand a chance if this rule is followed.
Despite the positive aspects of Rule 40, rumors began to fly when the Republican National Committee rules committee decided to meet to discuss changing the rules for the 2016 GOP Convention. The discussion surrounding Rule 40 stemmed from the concern of many Republicans that only Cruz and Trump would be eligible to become the GOP nominee.
During the RNC meeting last week, the rules committee rejected the changes. Solomon Yue, a committee member from Oregon, warned party leaders against attempting to control the coming Cleveland events because these efforts “would blow up the convention and cause us to lose in November the White House fight.”
Living in a democratic republic gives people a voice in government. But, if the people’s original vote doesn’t choose the leader of our country, the democratic process fails.
If future primaries mirror the most recent ones, we’ll be left with Donald Trump. Party leaders might not like the outcome, but that’s who the people wanted, and their voices are the ones that matter.
Yes, our presidential nomination process has serious flaws. But, changing the rules now could lead to rule changes that hurt voter power in future elections.
I would rather stick with these candidates and have my vote continue to count in later elections than lose that power during this cycle simply because I don’t like the candidate my fellow Americans choose. If we give up our votes now, we set the precedent for future elections.
Charlie Bonacquisti is a 20-year-old mass communication sophomore from Dallas, Texas.