You Can Still Vote In GOP Primaries

After Ted Cruz and John Kasich dropped out of the presidential race, Donald Trump was automatically thrust into the position of presumptive Republican nominee. It may seem like the party's just waiting around to make things official at the convention in July, but the remaining primaries haven't been cancelled. In fact, you can still vote in Republican primaries up until the Republican National Convention.

Seven states still have scheduled GOP primaries, with Oregon on Tuesday, Washington on May 24, and California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota on June 7. Trump currently has 1,086 pledged delegates, and has to get 1,237 in order to officially win the party's nomination, meaning he technically has to keep winning primaries. The ballots won't only list Trump's name, though, as candidates aren't necessarily removed when they drop out (or "suspend"). According to The Guardian, California's ballot in a few weeks will also include Cruz, Kasich, Ben Carson, and Jim Gilmore.

This leaves the possibility for anti-Trump Republicans to vote for someone other than the real-estate-mogul-turned-politician in protest. Even if it won't make much of a difference, it could at least make you feel better than voting for a candidate you absolutely abhor or not voting at all.

In Oregon, there are 28 total of GOP delegates up for grabs on Tuesday. A candidate has to win at least 15 percent of the vote per congressional district to get even a single delegate, so it's unlikely that anti-Trump votes will give any delegates to his prior opponents. Polls from late April and early May had Trump way ahead of Cruz and Kasich in the state anyway, highlighting how he probably would have won even with them still in the race.

Although the primaries are still happening, they're pretty much over. Now, Trump's campaign is focused on the delegates still being picked for the Cleveland convention. The billionaire needs to make sure the chosen representatives support his nomination and don't cause trouble for him. Because the 112 members of the Republican rules committee have the power to change convention rules in order to stop a Trump ticket, the presumptive nominee has to ensure that committee isn't run by delegates who oppose him. They're chosen at state conventions, with each state and territory electing one man and one woman to represent it in Cleveland.

Trump hasn't completely won over GOP elites, so there could still be an unexpected showdown in July — but not if he can help it.