Politico reports that there are at least half a dozen Democratic electors in Washington and Colorado who want to try to prevent Donald Trump from winning and undermine the legitimacy of the Electoral College.
To put it another way there are six Democrat electors from states that Hillary Clinton won who think they will be able to disrupt the Electoral College.
Currently President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence have 290 electors and Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine have 232. Once the Michigan vote is certified and if Trump/Pence’s lead holds they will have 306 electors.
Kyle Cheney writes:
At least a half-dozen Democratic electors have signed onto an attempt to block Donald Trump from winning an Electoral College majority, an effort designed not only to deny Trump the presidency but also to undermine the legitimacy of the institution.
The presidential electors, mostly former Bernie Sanders supporters who hail from Washington state and Colorado, are now lobbying their Republican counterparts in other states to reject their oaths — and in some cases, state law — to vote against Trump when the Electoral College meets on Dec. 19.
Even the most optimistic among the Democratic electors acknowledges they’re unlikely to persuade the necessary 37 Republican electors to reject Trump — the number they’d likely need to deny him the presidency and send the final decision to the House of Representatives. And even if they do, the Republican-run House might simply elect Trump anyway.
But the Democratic electors are convinced that even in defeat, their efforts would erode confidence in the Electoral College and fuel efforts to eliminate it, ending the body’s 228-year run as the only official constitutional process for electing the president.
First how exactly will Democratic electors who get to vote on December 19 revolt against Trump? They were selected by their party to vote for Hillary Clinton? Second, if they think 37 Republicans are going to violate their oath and possibly state law to vote for who exactly? That’s a pipe dream.
As far as disrupting the Electoral College, were these people against the Electoral College when the Democratic candidate won? Would they feel the same way had Donald Trump won the popular vote and not the electoral college?
I highly doubt it. I can tell you I would have accepted those results because I believe in the system that our Constitution outlines. Our framers put the Electoral College in place to maintain the sovereignty of each state and to avoid the tyranny of the majority.. For this very reason Republican electors, even if they have strong reservations about Donald Trump, should keep their oath and vote for Donald Trump. This system has served us well for 228 years. It shouldn’t be undone because some people don’t like the result.