What if the Electoral College turns against Trump tomorrow?

As more and more US electors declare that they will not vote for President-elect Donald Trump, a scenario that is unlikely but cannot be ruled out is that Mr. Trump may not have enough votes to become the next owner of the White House.

US President-elect Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. (Photo: Getty)

According to the US electoral system, voters do not directly elect the president, but they vote for electors - people who pledge to elect the president according to the will of the voters. In other words, 538 electors will represent 318 million American voters to choose the next president.

Essentially, the electors in a state vote for the presidential candidate who won the popular vote in that state. However, there is nothing in the US Constitution that prevents a "faithless" elector from voting for another candidate.

Although Mr. Trump lost the popular vote to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, thanks to his victories in key states, he won 306 electoral votes, compared to Mrs. Clinton's 232. The electoral college of each state will officially vote tomorrow, December 19, to choose the next president.

After the November 8 election, many Democratic electors launched a campaign to persuade Republican electors to disobey Mr. Trump. Currently, only Republican elector Christopher Suprun of Texas has publicly declared disloyalty to President-elect Trump. However, Harvard professor Larry Lessig said that at least 20 Republican electors are ready to not vote for Mr. Trump tomorrow.

If at least 37 electors ultimately decide to break with the President-elect, Mr. Trump will not have enough votes to become the next president of the United States.

In the event that the Electoral College “rebelled” against Mr. Trump and candidate Clinton’s electoral votes exceeded the minimum threshold of 270 votes, the result would be reversed, but this scenario is almost impossible.

In the scenario where both candidates fail to get the minimum 270 votes, the US House of Representatives will vote to select one of the three candidates with the most votes. However, according to Harvard law professor Lessig, the US House of Representatives controlled by the Republican Party will certainly lean towards Mr. Trump.

If Republicans want to prevent Trump from winning, they must unanimously support Clinton, but that is impossible, according to Lessig. The loyalty of electors is always considered a sign of respect for American democratic values. In the past 80 years of US election history, there have only been 9 disloyal electors.

Furthermore, when voting in the House of Representatives, each state will only be able to choose one representative to vote regardless of the number of electors or population size of that state. For example, the key state of Florida has 29 electors but only gets one vote. Meanwhile, in the US, there are more Republican-leaning states than Democratic-leaning states.

Meanwhile, the Senate will choose the two vice presidential candidates with the most electoral votes. Each senator will cast one vote for the vice presidential candidate they support.

If the House of Representatives fails to elect a sole president by Inauguration Day (i.e., January 20, 2017), the vice president elected by the Senate will be designated as acting president until the House elects one. If the vice president is also not chosen, the current Speaker of the House will become acting president until Congress resolves the issue.

Conversely, if the House of Representatives elects a president but the Senate fails to elect a vice president, the president will have the right to choose a presidential candidate and wait for congressional approval.

According to Dan Tri