WASHINGTON (news agencies) — Nearly 2,500 delegates are gathering in Milwaukee this week for a roll call vote to select a the Republican presidential nominee, formally ending the presidential primary.
It will be a moment lacking in suspense: Former President Donald Trump has already been the presumptive nominee for months, having clinched a majority of convention delegates on March 12, but he doesn’t officially become the party’s standard-bearer until after the roll call, when delegates vote on the nominee.
A vast majority of those delegates are already bound to support Trump, who only needs a majority to win the Republican nomination. However, due to state party rules, at least a handful are still slated to go to former candidate Nikki Haley, even after she released her delegates.
While Democratic delegates are technically allowed to stray from their pledged candidate to vote their conscience, Republican delegates remain bound to their assigned candidate no matter their personal views. That means that the party rules almost guarantee that Trump will officially become the nominee this week.
The leader of each state delegation will take turns, in alphabetical order, to announce their results. If a delegation passes when it’s their turn, they will have another opportunity to announce their results at the end of the roll call.
Republicans have not yet announced the time and date of the roll call.
At least 2,268 delegates will support Trump at the Republican National Convention, though his ceiling is even higher than that.
Most states send delegates to the convention who are “bound” to a particular candidate, meaning those delegates are required to support a particular candidate at the convention. State parties use primary or caucus vote results and smaller party gatherings to decide how to allocate those delegates to various presidential candidates.