A last-ditch effort by anti-Trump forces is taking place among members of the Electoral College. A group of about a half dozen electors in Colorado, Washington State, and one member in Texas, plan to vote for Ohio Gov. John Kasich instead of the popularly elected candidate of their states.
In a statement released Tuesday, Gov. Kasich asked for the group not to vote for him. He also reminded them that it was Donald Trump who won the Electoral College and that the “election is over.”
Gov. John Kasich statement on the recent news about the upcoming Electoral College meeting: pic.twitter.com/dm9yOfBqwF
— John Kasich (@JohnKasich) December 6, 2016
A harsh truth bomb dropped on their movement.
One interesting detail about the self-named “Hamilton electors”: all of them except for one are taking votes away from Hillary Clinton. The majority of the group represent Colorado and Washington State - two states that went for Clinton on Election Day. Only one elector, Chris Suprun of Texas, plans to take away a vote from Trump’s column. If their plan is executed as intended, it will leave Trump with an even higher electoral margin over Clinton than before.
Kasich isn’t the only elected official that is criticizing the group. Colorado’s secretary of state, Wayne Williams, castigated a lawsuit initiated by two of the Democratic electors. Polly Baca and Robert Nemanich, two electors who are supposed to be voting for Clinton, are suing in federal court to overturn a law in Colorado that forces them to select the candidate that was popularly chosen by their state.
"Make no mistake, this is not some noble effort to fight some unjust or unconstitutional law; rather, this is an arrogant attempt by two faithless electors to elevate their personal desires over the entire will of the people of Colorado," Williams said.
"The very notion of two Colorado electors ignoring Colorado’s popular vote in an effort to sell their vote to electors in other states is odious to everything we hold dear about the right to vote," he went on. "It is this type of evil that President Franklin Roosevelt warned us about when he cautioned that voters – not elected officials such as these faithless electors – are 'the ultimate rulers of our democracy.'"
The 538 members of the Electoral College will meet on December 19 at their respective state capitals to cast their official votes.
Anti-Trumpers hoping for a miracle better not hold their breath.