Supreme court has ruled on delegates being forced to vote for a candidate in 1980

[romancito]

No candidate who has not won plurality of delegates in at least 5 states can be nominated from the floor. So forget about anyone else being nominated except those who actually competed in the process.

Maybe I am wrong but the case is at this time that on first ballot Romney will be nominated and Ron Paul could be also nominated by five of those states that are said to have been won by Ron Paul according to delegate sum. Scenario: Romney does not get 1144 on account of Paul's, Gingrich and Santorum delegates no voting for him. Ron Paul may not get 1144 either. The Convention is said to be a Brokered Convention. At that time 5 states delegations can support another candidate such as Sarah Palin, Paul Ryan, Rand Paul, Jeff Bush, Barbour, etc. etc. and if so, that person can get nominated to compete also against Romney and Paul. Usually a deal is made with a Vice President in mind. Usually when a nominee is not accepted, say Romney is denied, a deal is forthcoming usually regarding a VP or some other concession. But I can be wrong.

 

[robertwerden]

RNC rule No. 40(b) states:

Each candidate for nomination for President of the United States and Vice President of the United States shall demonstrate the support of a plurality of the delegates from each of five (5) or more states, severally, prior to the presentation of the name of that candidate for nomination.

So, even in a brokered convention (a situation where no one has 1144 votes) only those who have delegate majority in 5 states can be nominated. This is a new rule from 2010 and removes the possibility of anyone except Ron Paul, Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum from being nominated for either Vice President or President.

 

[LostNFoundNTx]

RNC rule No. 40(b) states:

Each candidate for nomination for President of the United States and Vice President of the United States shall demonstrate the support of a plurality of the delegates from each of five (5) or more states, severally, prior to the presentation of the name of that candidate for nomination.

So, even in a brokered convention (a situation where no one has 1144 votes) only those who have delegate majority in 5 states can be nominated. This is a new rule from 2010 and removes the possibility of anyone except Ron Paul, Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum from being nominated for either Vice President or President.

Once again, you take a quote and draw a completely incorrect conclusion. Suppose no one gets 1144 on the first round. At that point, a plurality of delegates from 5 states can nominate whoever they like. No where does it say the delegates can't change their mind between rounds - and to assume so is absurd because that would mean there will either be exactly 1 ballot or there will be no nominee.

 

[robertwerden]

Once again, you take a quote and draw a completely incorrect conclusion. Suppose no one gets 1144 on the first round. At that point, a plurality of delegates from 5 states can nominate whoever they like. No where does it say the delegates can't change their mind between rounds - and to assume so is absurd because that would mean there will either be exactly 1 ballot or there will be no nominee.

I have no Idea what you just said.
Where did I say they could not change their minds?
What does that have to do with Nominating a person who has not won 5 states?
It is almost as if you are a troll?

 

[foofighter20x]

Robert: your conclusion does not fit the language.

The only restriction on being nominated from the floor is that, within state delegations to the RNC, a person receives the most votes of that delegation in each of 5 states.

An example: Assume Romney gets the nomination. Romney then states "I want Person X as my running mate." Fine. He's indicated his preference. Doesn't mean Romney gets his choice automatically. For X to even be considered, X has to have the plurality support of 5 RNC state delegations to be nominated. X is not required to have been a presidential candidate at any point before hand. (Think about this: if they had to be a presidential candidate before hand, then how did McCain nominate Palin under the exact same rules?)

So, Romney declares for candidate X. So what? Nothing happens if there's not the the support of at least 5 state delegations where the plurality of each delegation votes to nominate X.

Let's say the a cluster of delegates would like to see Person Y as the VP nominee. If that cluster represents the plurality view of at least 5 state delegations, then they can nominate Y, in spite of Romney's declaration for X. Just as X is not required to have been a presidential candidate at any point before hand, neither is Y.

So, now there are two candidates for the nomination: X and Y. Assume no other person can show the support of the plurality of 5 state delegations. Then, the contest for the VP nomination is between only X and Y, and the convention votes on it. Whoever wins, X or Y, must have 1144 delegates vote for them.

Thus, as the rule states: "Each candidate for nomination ... shall demonstrate the support of a plurality of the delegates from each of five (5) or more states, severally, prior to the presentation of the name of that candidate for nomination. "