Will faithless electors be able to stop a Trump presidency?
- 7 years ago
WASHINGTON — With only a week left until the Electoral College makes U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s win official, a handful of rogues will be voting against their pledge in hopes of derailing a Trump presidency.
For most states, the candidate that wins the majority vote in a state gets all of its electoral votes. In Maine and Nebraska, the votes are tallied by congressional district. Each state is allocated a certain number of electors, for a current total of 538, which makes up the Electoral College.
According to the National Archives and Records Administration, on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December, electors convene in their states to cast the votes for the president and vice president.
But sometimes, electors who are bound to vote for a presidential candidate choose not to do so. Called faithless electors, these members either pick a different candidate or abstain from voting altogether.
To prevent this from happening, 29 states plus the District of Columbia legally bind their electors to their pledged vote, under threat of a misdemeanor charge or a fine.
A group of rogues who call themselves Hamilton electors are currently trying to deny Trump his presidency, but they need to convince at least 37 Republican electors to turn in order to successfully do so.
Faithless electors rarely alter the outcome of the electoral vote, except for one instance in 1836, when 23 Virginia electors abstained in voting for the vice presidential nominee.
In the event of a deadlock, or if no candidate gets the absolute majority of votes, a contingent election is held where the presidency is decided by the House of Representatives and the vice presidency by the Senate.
At this point, whether or not the U.S. and the rest of the world witness Trump’s America is up to the faithless.
For most states, the candidate that wins the majority vote in a state gets all of its electoral votes. In Maine and Nebraska, the votes are tallied by congressional district. Each state is allocated a certain number of electors, for a current total of 538, which makes up the Electoral College.
According to the National Archives and Records Administration, on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December, electors convene in their states to cast the votes for the president and vice president.
But sometimes, electors who are bound to vote for a presidential candidate choose not to do so. Called faithless electors, these members either pick a different candidate or abstain from voting altogether.
To prevent this from happening, 29 states plus the District of Columbia legally bind their electors to their pledged vote, under threat of a misdemeanor charge or a fine.
A group of rogues who call themselves Hamilton electors are currently trying to deny Trump his presidency, but they need to convince at least 37 Republican electors to turn in order to successfully do so.
Faithless electors rarely alter the outcome of the electoral vote, except for one instance in 1836, when 23 Virginia electors abstained in voting for the vice presidential nominee.
In the event of a deadlock, or if no candidate gets the absolute majority of votes, a contingent election is held where the presidency is decided by the House of Representatives and the vice presidency by the Senate.
At this point, whether or not the U.S. and the rest of the world witness Trump’s America is up to the faithless.