The Republican National Committee's Rules Committee voted to require written certification that a presidential candidate has a plurality of delegates from five states in order to get a space on the convention ballot — a move intended to provide a warning in the event of floor movement toward an insurgent candidate.

Tennessee committeeman John Ryder push the rules change to eliminate "distractions" on the convention floor, in an effort to "try to create a more streamlined convention procedure, that better reflects the realities," he said.

"The focus is to get away from some of the residue of the 19th century," he added.