If Donald Trump falls short of 1,237 threshold, the Republican Party's delegates will need to pick their nominee at a contested convention.
Like any Republican candidate, front-runner Donald Trump needs to collect a majority of the party's 2,472 delegates in state nominating contests to become his party's candidate for the US presidential election in November. If he falls short of that 1,237 threshold, the Republican Party's delegates will need to pick their nominee at a contested convention in Cleveland in July, by following a complex process of sequential votes.
HOW CAN TRUMP AVOID A CONTESTED CONVENTION?
Trump currently has 646 delegates, after winning nominating contests in Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina on March 15, according to the Associated Press. That compares with 397 delegates for US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and 142 for Ohio Governor John Kasich. US Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who had 168 delegates, dropped out of the race on Tuesday night after losing his home state to Trump.
At this point, Trump would need to win around 55% of the delegates still up for grabs in order to avoid a contested Republican convention in July. That is a tall order for a candidate who has so far been scoring in the mid-to-high 40% range in state contests - though his chances could improve given that several upcoming state primaries are winner-take-all.
HOW DOES A CONTESTED CONVENTION WORK?
If Trump walks into the convention in July with the most delegates, but falls short of the 1,237 threshold, delegates will start a sequence of floor votes. In the first vote, at least 5% of the total 2,472 Republican delegates will become unbound - meaning they can vote as they please instead of according to the result of the voting district they represent.
If no candidate reaches the 1,237 threshold in that vote, a second vote is held, this time with a larger proportion of delegates becoming unbound. This process continues, with more delegates becoming unbound with each new vote, until a candidate gets a majority and wins the party nomination to run for the presidency.
All bets are off, however, if different rules are adopted before the convention, which is always a possibility. The Republican National Committee rules committee will meet ahead of the convention to draw up bylaws.
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 "Donald Trump, John Kasich, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Republican Party, US Presidential Elections 2016")
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