Anti-Trump delegates say they will force roll call vote on rules

CLEVELAND—The band of Republican delegates mounting a last-ditch effort to snatch the nomination away from Donald Trump is claiming a last-minute victory in a push to force every delegate to vote on the party’s rules on the convention floor.

Delegates Unbound, a group of delegates that support unbinding the delegates to free them from their pledge to vote for Trump, announced Monday afternoon it had secured enough support to force that roll call vote.

{mosads}The delegates aim to vote down the rules package in its entirety in order to force the party back to the drawing board under pressure to unbind delegates. But the effort will likely only gum up the process, as it remains extremely unlikely the effort can find the 1,237 delegates needed.

“Despite every obstacle thrown in our way, the movement of all the stakeholders involved in this effort have gained a majority of the delegates in 10 states,” said Dane Waters, co-founder of Delegates Unbound, in a statement released just before the convention began.

“Now we take this fight to the floor.”

The group needed majorities in seven states in order to force that roll call vote, so the effort appears to have eclipsed that mark. But that’s still far short from the majority needed.

There was initial confusion over whether the group was able to successfully file the petitions with the Republican National Committee leadership in order to force that vote. On the convention floor, those loyal to the effort frantically checked their phones for Twitter updates or text messages to confirm whether the signatures were submitted in time.

One delegate involved in the effort confirmed to The Hill the group successfully turned in the petition, setting up the Hail Mary vote.

In most years, rules are confirmed with a perfunctory voice vote that takes little time. But it appears that the group will move to force the time-consuming change of plans to query each delegate.

It’s the last breath of the “Never Trump” movement, which lost a series of efforts during last week’s rules committee meetings aimed at unbinding convention delegates. In addition to the “Never Trump” faction, the group also wants to attract those who want to decentralize power from the Republican National Committee and restrict primaries to registered Republicans.

–This report was updated at 4:02 p.m.