GOP Delegate Sues to Avoid Voting for Trump

He challenges Virginia law in class-action suit
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 25, 2016 7:37 AM CDT
GOP Delegate Sues to Avoid Trump Vote
Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Phoenix last week.   (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

With GOP convention is now just a few weeks away, some delegates think they still have a chance to stop Donald Trump. One of them, Virginia delegate Carroll Correll Jr., filed a federal lawsuit Friday to challenge the state law that penalizes convention delegates who vote for somebody other than the primary winner, the Hill reports. The First Amendment guarantees delegates the right "to vote their conscience, free from government compulsion, when participating in the selection of their party's presidential nominee," states the class-action lawsuit filed by Correll, who was co-chair of the Ted Cruz campaign in Virginia.

Correll "will not vote for Donald J. Trump, whom Correll believes is unfit to serve as President of the United States," the complaint states, per Raw Story. "A vote for Trump would violate the dictates of Correll’s conscience." The suit also notes that Trump "prevailed in the Republican primary with a slim plurality of 34.7% of votes." NBC notes that the Virginia GOP awards its delegates proportionately, which conflicts with the state statute. Correll's lawsuit states that he "is concerned that voting against Trump at the convention may subject him to retaliatory litigation by Trump." (He'll probably make it through the convention, but the electoral math is not looking good for Trump.)

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