Two US electors launch a campaign calling for the 'overthrow' of Donald Trump.

Two Democratic electors have launched a campaign to persuade the 37 Republican electors to withdraw their support for President-elect Donald Trump, amid a backdrop of millions of Americans signing the Electoral College petition to switch their support to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

(Photo: Reuters)

Washington state elector Bret Chiafolo, who previously declared his opposition to Clinton, and Colorado elector Michael Baca have launched a campaign to persuade 37 Republican electors to withdraw their support for President-elect Donald Trump. Their campaign has now secured the support of the third Electoral College elector, Robert Satiacum of Washington.

Both Chiafolo and Baca stated that their efforts were not aimed at helping Clinton win, but rather at creating an opportunity for another Republican candidate. In fact, both electors already intended not to vote for Clinton in the Electoral College vote on December 19th. They planned to vote for John Kasich, or even Senator Mitt Romney – the former Republican presidential candidate in 2012.

If they secure enough electoral votes, this campaign will send the election to the House of Representatives. The House will then select the three candidates with the most votes. However, both electors acknowledge that their efforts are not guaranteed to succeed, as historically, it is rare for an elector to change their mind at the last minute, even though theoretically they could withdraw their earlier commitment.

The United States has 538 electoral votes, equal to the number of seats in the U.S. Congress (535) plus the three electors from Washington, D.C. Most electors are individuals who have publicly pledged their support to a particular candidate. In most states (except Maine and Nebraska), the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes also receives all of that state's electoral votes. This is why Clinton won more popular votes but still couldn't win the election because she didn't have the minimum 270 electoral votes. According to the November 8th election results, Trump won 290 electoral votes while Clinton won 232.

The campaign by the two electors comes as nearly 3.2 million supporters have signed a petition titled “The Electoral College Should Support Hillary Clinton for President on December 19” on www.change.org.

Meanwhile, thousands of people in at least 50 cities across the United States have taken to the streets over the past five days to protest the election results.

According toDan Tri