In his email, Klarman wrote that upending typical election procedures could present a threat to American democracy. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to capture the presidency.
“If a candidate gets that kind of percentage and a greater popular vote than another candidate, it seems to me that’s a pretty strong case they should’ve won the election”, said Boylan.
Members of the Electoral College are chosen by state political parties and cast votes for president and vice president. Since the election, people have asked me to change my vote based on policy disagreements with Donald J. Trump.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by almost 3 million votes, according to Think Progress. Four Colorado electors have promised to do the same thing.
A coalition of activist groups on Sunday took to the streets of downtown Los Angeles to protest against some of the labor and immigration policies proposed by President-elect Donald Trump, a day before he is expected to officially claim victory in the nation’s presidential contest. “It’s really been disappointing because we’ve made a decision”, said elector Glenn Pinckney. All of a sudden, Adam gets two electoral votes and wins the election.
How common are faithless electors? So far, Texas GOP party operative Chris Suprun is the only Republican elector to go public with his plan to vote for someone other than Trump.
The Constitution doesn’t require members of the Electoral College to vote for the candidate who won the state… but that is the tradition. And on Friday, Trump admitted his supporters were “violent” and “vicious” during the campaign.
Attorney Jesse Witt said his clients will be waiting to see what the Court of Appeals does, but this is a setback. “But I signed a loyalty pledge, and that matters”.
The ad, sponsored by Unite for America and Americans Take Action, is part of a last-ditch effort to persuade electors casting their votes Monday to reject Trump. And if California voted like every other Democratic state – where Clinton averaged 53.5% wins – Clinton and Trump end up in a virtual popular vote tie.
The 29 NY electors who will meet in the Albany include former President Bill Clinton. That came after a separate claim from Trump, in which he said he could have won the popular vote if he had wanted to, by campaigning in highly populated states like California and NY.
Then, on the afternoon of January 6, Vice President Joe Biden will open the electoral votes before a joint session of the new Congress, where they will be counted. The Senate would choose the vice president.
Outgoing Vice President Joe Biden will oversee the tally, and declare the victor.
The last time there was a faithless elector was in 2004, when a Democratic elector in Minnesota voted for Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards instead of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. Electors are typically elected officials or state party leaders. Let them keep you.