Republican Delegate Files Lawsuit Against 'Cash-Starved' Trump

A Republican delegate is suing officials in the state of Virginia in a bid to avoid voting for the Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump in the party’s July convention as he argues that the billionaire is unfit to be president and that forcing delegates to vote for him violates their constitutional rights, it emerged Friday.

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Carroll Correll, the delegate who filed the lawsuit in a federal court against Virginia election officials, is seeking a judgment on behalf of all delegates to the Republican and Democratic conventions.

"The First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees delegates to the Republican Party's and Democratic Party's national conventions the right to vote their conscience, free from government compulsion, when participating in the selection of their party's presidential nominee,” read the complaint which was filed Friday by Correll's lawyer.

“Nonetheless, Virginia law acts to strip them of that right, imposing criminal penalties on delegates who vote for anyone other than the primary winner on the first ballot at a national convention. That law cannot be sustained under the First Amendment or as a legitimate exercise of Virginia's authority under the United States Constitution."

The delegates lawsuit comes as many within the Republican party have been campaigning against Trump and his likely nomination through a push to implement major changes to the party’s bylaws as well as anti-Trump TV ads and media campaigns.

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Correll is bound to vote for Trump on the first ballot at the convention. "Correll believes that Donald Trump is unfit to serve as President of the United States and that voting for Donald Trump would therefore violate Correll's conscience," the complaint added. Trump won Virginia's primary on Super Tuesday.

The development adds to the mounting pressure on the Trump campaign as recent official reports show the candidate is running on a low budget as many Republican donors are refusing to back him financially.

According to electoral filings, Trump raised just US$3 million in individual contributions in May and had a war chest of only US$1 million at the end of the month. Meanwhile, his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, raised US$26 million and ended May with a war chest of US$42 million.

In his re-election bid in 2012, U.S. President Barack Obama's spent US$600 million between June and November 2012, according to Federal Election Commission filings, suggesting that Trump is a few hundred million dollars behind being even a serious contender for the presidency after the primaries.

The under pressure Trump campaign released its first "emergency" fund-raising email last Saturday, which read: "Right now we're facing an emergency goal of $100,000 to help get our ads on the air. We need your contribution by 11:59 P.M. Tonight."

Donald Trump has also been taking a beating in national polls as Clinton continues to widen her lead. A Reuters poll showed her with a 13 points lead ahead of the real estate billionaire.