A group of anti-Trump delegates at the Republican National Convention pressed unsuccessfully for a roll call vote on the convention rules Monday afternoon, only to be quashed by convention officials. The resulting scene was a chaotic display of disunity and anger ― but it may have been the Stop Trump faction’s inability to keep their own ranks together that ultimately did them in.
Prior to the contentious scene, it had been reported that the delegations from a number of states had submitted petitions to allow a roll call vote on the rules. Their goal was to force a floor vote in the hopes that the delegates could be “unbound” and permitted to vote their consciences ― and likely against Trump’s nomination.
There was no clear sign that the effort would have ultimately succeeded, but the matter was made a moot point after Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), who was presiding over the convention at the time, informed the delegates that a sufficient number of those states had withdrawn their petitions ― taking the roll call vote proponents below the seven-state threshold required to demand the vote.
It was not immediately clear which states had withdrawn their petitions, but we will update with further information as it becomes available. The Huffington Post’s Michael McAuliff and S.V. Dáte have further details from the convention floor.