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25 Jun, 2016 01:16

Lawsuit that may break The Donald’s back: Virginia GOP delegate challenges Trump

Lawsuit that may break The Donald’s back: Virginia GOP delegate challenges Trump

A Virginia delegate really, really does not want to give Donald Trump the Republican presidential nomination. So much so that he has filed a class action lawsuit to challenge the state laws that bind delegates to support the primary winner.

Beau Correll will be a delegate at the Republican National Convention in July and, per Virginia law, will be required to vote for Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, officially naming the billionaire businessman to the top of the Republican ticket. That’s why he filed a lawsuit in federal court on Friday to challenge that law on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment.

Virginia’s law states: "Delegates and alternates shall be bound to vote on the first ballot at the national convention for the candidate receiving the most votes in the primary unless that candidate releases those delegates and alternates from such vote."

Currently, that is Trump. However, the federal law that supersedes it “guarantees delegates to the Republican Party's and Democratic Party's national conventions the right to vote their conscience, free from government compulsion.” That federal law is the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Representing Virginia’s 10th District, Correll’s complaint claims that an emergency injunctive relief would allow, “all Virginia delegates to vote their consciences at the parties’ national conventions free from the threat of criminal sanction.

Basically what Correll is saying is that he does not want to vote for Trump at the Republican National Convention, but he doesn’t want Trump to sue him over it, either. Given that the real estate mogul is currently involved in roughly 3,500 lawsuits, the injunction to prevent a legal battle from Trump could be a wise idea for Correll.

Correll, a former co-chair of Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign, is a part of a growing effort to deny Trump the presidential nomination. Pending the results of his injunction request, it could mean the difference between having Trump or a #NeverTrump candidate on the general election ballot in November.

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