So Stalin was right. It matters not who votes, but who counts the votes. Sadly you seem to be comfortable with that.
You miss the point. Delegates appear on the ballot. It is up to the candidate and his team to provide delegates for whom the people can vote. If they do not do the work, before the primary, the slots are filled, as has been the rule for a long while. He is not the first candidate to be burned by it, and I doubt he will be the last. The difference will come if we have to go to a second round of voting and more than one candidate is eligible to have votes counted for them.