Yet everyone agrees that Mr Erdogan must seek consensus when nominating a candidate for the presidency.

ECONOMIST: The ruling party does surprisingly well

The new draft EU constitution does introduce some linkage between the European election and the make-up of the commission, by proposing that the Council of Ministers should "take into account" the election result when nominating a candidate for the commission presidency.

BBC: NEWS | Europe | The EU's democratic challenge

The poll is among the most prominent events and deciding factors for nominating the Republican candidate for president.

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It is at these later meetings that the delegates will usually be chosen for the party's national nominating convention at which the presidential candidate will be declared.

BBC: Caucus

He urged his supporters to remain active in the nominating process but has not endorsed any remaining candidate.

CNN: Cuomos endorse Kerry

He did the next best thing, engineering an open nominating convention in which more than 12, 000 delegates were free to vote for any candidate.

CNN: Change at the Top