It’s no secret that the 2016 election and its results have been surrounded in drama. When the results came in on early November 8th, it was clear that Donald Trump was going to be the new president of the United States of America. Immediately there were large-scale protests in cities all over the country with the chant “not our president!” Though as much as it’s rejected, he simply is.
Now while those marchers didn’t absolve themselves from the president-elect, they sent a clear picture to the world that while Trump won, that they did not support him or his ideas. Trump may have won the Electoral College, 306 votes to Hillary Clinton’s 232, but he lost the popular vote by over 2.5 million votes, the third worst margin since 1824. Now even the electoral college officials are finding themselves in the same turmoil.
A small group of Democrats and even a few Republican electors have embarked on an unusual effort to deny Trump the victory — or at the very least, raise the specter of changing the election. Which down right a flat out slap in the face to the president-elect as the elector’s hands are really supposed to be tied to whom the voters of their districts voted for.
So far electors in three states have gone to court seeking the chance to vote their mind; another resigned to avoid the vote altogether. One Republican elector in Texas has publicly said he will not vote for Trump, although his state voted overwhelmingly for the GOP candidate.
A group of about 80 electors (including one Republican) signed on to a letter to National Intelligence Director James Clapper asking for a briefing on the role Russian hacks may have played in the election before the vote. (That request, supported by Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair John Podesta, will not be granted, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said.)
If even the electors are struggling, it’s clear the craziness of the 2016 election is far from over.
