Can Donald Trump's Presidency Be Blocked? Two Members Of The Electoral College Urge Electors To Switch Votes To Another Republican

Two Democratic members of the Electoral College urged colleagues Monday to block the election of Donald Trump as president and throw the election into the House of Representatives as millions of Americans signed a petition encouraging electors to switch their votes to Hillary Clinton.

Bret Chiafolo of Washington state and Michael Baca of Colorado said all it would take is for 37 electors to withhold their votes from Trump to leave the decision to the House. A third elector, Robert Satiacum of Washington state, also said he supports the idea.

“This is a longshot. It’s a hail Mary,” Chiafolo told Politico by phone. “However, I do see situations where — when we’ve already had two or three [Republican] electors state publicly they didn’t want to vote for Trump. How many of them have real issues with Donald Trump in private?”

Chiafolo and Baca have dubbed their push “Moral Electors.” Neither supports Clinton. Both are urging their Republican colleagues to write in 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney or Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

The latest count from last Tuesday’s election gives Trump 290 electoral votes to 228 for Clinton though Clinton won the popular vote, 61.04 million to 60.4 million. Some states require electors by law to cast their votes based on the popular vote while others are bound by their parties, which would fine those who do not keep faith. The Electoral College meets Dec. 19.

Since the election nearly 4.4 million people have signed a change.org petition urging electors to switch their votes to Clinton.

The vitriol of the campaign has yet to wane. Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets across the country to protest Trump’s election despite the president-elect’s pledge to be the president “for all the people” in his victory speech. The protesters have carried signs reading, “Not my President” in both English and Spanish. Trump’s likeness also has been burned in effigy.