2 US electors launch campaign calling for 'overthrowing' Donald Trump

Two Democratic electors have launched a campaign to persuade 37 Republican electors to withdraw their support for President-elect Donald Trump, as millions of Americans have signed a petition to support Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

(Photo: Reuters)

Washington elector Bret Chiafolo, who has previously declared his opposition to Mrs. 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 received the support of a third elector, Robert Satiacum, a Washington elector.

Both Chiafolo and Baca said their efforts were not intended to help Clinton win, but rather to give another Republican a chance. In fact, both electors are already planning to not vote for Clinton in the Electoral College vote on December 19. They plan to vote for John Kasich, or even for Senator Mitt Romney, the former Republican presidential nominee in 2012.

If enough electors support the campaign, it will send the election to the House of Representatives, which will then select the three candidates with the most votes. However, both electors acknowledge that their efforts are unlikely to succeed, as historically, electors have rarely changed their minds at the last minute, although they could theoretically withdraw their previous pledges.

The United States has 538 electoral votes, equal to the number of seats in the US Congress (535) plus 3 electors from Washington, DC. Most of the electors are people who have publicly pledged to support a candidate in advance. In most states (except Maine and Nebraska), the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes also receives all of the electoral votes of that state. That is why Mrs. Clinton won more popular votes but still could not win because she did not have the minimum of 270 electoral votes. According to the election results on November 8, Mr. Trump won 290 electoral votes while Mrs. Clinton won 232 electoral votes.

The two electors' campaign comes as nearly 3.2 million supporters have signed a petition titled "The Electoral College Should Support Hillary Clinton as 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 toPeople's Intelligence