THE AMERICAN PEOPLE VOTED in such a way as to garner Donald Trump 270 plus electoral votes needed to be president; nonetheless, their vote is not the final determinant as to whom will actually be president. In fact, all that these numbers represent is the people’s desire for the 538 electors scattered throughout their respective states and the District of Columbia to vote the way they did. The people cast their vote on November 8, but it serves only as an indicator for the electors who do not vote until December 19. Each state has both a Democratic and Republican roster of electors. The roster representing the party of the candidate that won the popular vote in each state is the roster that will vote on December 19. It is they, not the people, that decide who the next president will be – the Hilary Camp is banking on this unique electoral verity as their alternate path to the White House.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The names on the winning candidate’s party roster (from the Nov. 8 election) are the electors who will choose the president on December 19. Once chosen, the electors are expected to vote for the candidate that won the popular vote in their state. There are 30 states, including the District of Columbia, where electors pledge to vote for the people’s choice. Alphabetically, these are: Alabama, Alaska, California, Delaware, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
With so many electors pledged, the result might seem like a sure guarantee for Trump. Unfortunately, although ” throughout our history as a nation, more than 99 percent of Electors have voted as pledged; they do not have to do so. According to the National Archives
“Political parties may extract pledges from electors to vote for the parties’ nominees. Some state laws provide that so-called “Faithless Electors” may be subject to fines or may be disqualified for casting an invalid vote and be replaced by a substitute elector. The Supreme Court has not specifically ruled on the question of whether pledges and penalties for failure to vote as pledged may be enforced under the Constitution. No Elector has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote as pledged” (nearly 200 have voted against the pledge).
Fifteen states do not require a pledge. Electors in these states are free to follow their conscience (Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia). This fact, coupled with knowledge that no elector has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote as pledged, makes it appear that the Clinton camp does, in fact, have one last chance to flip the election. Trump appears to have won won by 51 electoral votes. Consequently a minimum of 26 electors would have to swap. If Clinton supporters can persuade approximately 26 electors representing the Republican Party to swap candidates on December 19, Clinton will win.
Because it is their last chance, Clinton supporters are stopping at nothing to make electoral history; they have already launched an electronic petition found at change.org to persuade the Electoral College to name Clinton as the next president. They are asking electors “to ignore their states’ votes and cast their ballots for Secretary Clinton.” Already 3.5 million people have signed the petition.
According to the petition:
“On December 19, the Electors of the Electoral College will cast their ballots. If they all vote the way their states voted, Donald Trump will win. However, they can vote for Hillary Clinton if they choose. Even in states where that is not allowed, their vote would still be counted, they would simply pay a small fine – which we can be sure Clinton supporters will be glad to pay!”
Their argument continues:
“Secretary Clinton WON THE POPULAR VOTE and should be President. Hillary won the popular vote. The only reason Trump “won” is because of the Electoral College. But the Electoral College can actually give the White House to either candidate. So why not use this most undemocratic of our institutions to ensure a democratic result?”
“If electors vote against their party, they usually pay a fine. And people get mad (that’s all). But they can vote however they want and there is no legal means to stop them in most states.”
Far fetched as it might seem, liberal advocates for the Hilary cause (such as those at MoveOn.org) actually think they can pull off an electoral debacle and get away with it; they have been caught using Craigslist to advertise for paid protesters as if they were staging a color revolution right here in the United States. The Washington Post, in an attempt to dismiss the Craig-list phenomenon, admitted its existence:
“There are clearly progressive organizations that are hoping to use Trump’s election as a tool for organizing. Advocacy groups often hire staff to help organize activities around elections, which appears to be what those Craigslist ads are for. The phone number on several that were passed around link back to the Community Outreach Group, which was mostly hiring for campaign work. MoveOn is certainly hoping to leverage the current moment to its advantage, which includes trying to raise funds from Trump’s win, as its main webpage suggests. Yes, it supports the protests and encourages its members to participate; that’s organizing.”
If there are any doubts that the current protests are part of a call to “revolution”, they can be mitigated by considering the fact that pro-Clinton Bernie Sanders had his book entitled “Revolution” promoted on national television last night (November 14) by Stephen Cobert during a seven minute harangue of President-Elect Trump.
When asked if in light of the election results he would change the title of his book, “Revolution“, Mr. Sanders responded:
“NOW MORE THAN EVER OUR REVOLUTION!” (14 second mark of video).
A little further on when asked by Cobert what people should do. Sanders responded:
“What you do NOW is get involved heavily into the political process. When millions of people stand up and fight back, we will not be denied” followed by cheers and applause (2:29).
Bernie manifests his animus towards Trump when he blames the Supreme Court for allowing “billionaires to buy elections” (video @ 4:11) totally ignoring the fact (and his hypocrisy) that Hilary is not so poor herself and that her campaign spent nearly double that spent by the Trump campaign.
Bernie Sanders is feeding the movement on the streets; he wants revolution “now more than ever”. Thus, the folks at MoveOn congratulated both Clinton and Sanders – someone, they wrote, must stop the “toxic” “hate” that is impeding “progress” toward an LGBT, abortion, pornography, and usury safe world represented by Clinton and Sanders.:
“We congratulate Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and their tens of millions of supporters. Together, we will defeat Donald Trump’s toxic campaign of hate and lay the groundwork for progress.”
Anyone watching the protests in American cities can judge for themselves where the “toxic hate” is coming from. The so-called tolerance crowd does not seem so tolerant after all. It is difficult to feel the “love” coming from their profuse and vociferous hate rallies.
It all spells potential trouble for Trump who might have have a unique problem in the Electoral College because many Republicans did not vote for him in the general election, esp. “Neocon” Republicans and leading party representatives such as Colin Powell, the Bush Presidents George W and George H.W. (who did not vote at all), Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Larry Pressler, Norm Coleman, Sally Bradshaw, Gordon Humphrey, former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, and a host of others”
The electoral outcome is not as clear as it usually is, due to Trump’s loss of many Republicans. The Clinton camp is hoping that the same thing happens in the Electoral College. On January 6, Congress will officially meet in joint session to count the electoral votes cast on December 19. President Obama and Vice President Biden will preside over the joint session and the vote count and they will also announce the winner.
Sometime between mid-November and December 19, the governor of each state will prepare a “Certificate of Ascertainment“, and forward it to the electors.
Then on December 19, electors will meet in their respective states and vote for Vice President and President on separate ballots. Their votes are recorded on documents referred to as “Certificate of Vote“. The full set of electoral votes consists of a Certificate of Vote and a Certificate of Ascertainment.
These certificates are forwarded to Congress for their January 6 review. If a state submits conflicting votes to Congress, the two house acting together may accept or reject the vote. That is, they may do with it whatever they think best: accept the Governor’s list or accept the Elector’s list or reject them both. Given that the electors might not vote according to the Ascertainment sent them by the governor, there might very well be a difference, in which case the vote would be decided by the the House and Senate.
Thus, for Hilary to win, electors must vote differently than directed by the people of their respective states presumably contained in the Governor’s Certificate of Ascertainment. If this happens, the Elector’s List would differ from the Governor’s thereby leaving it to the Congress (the House and Senate together) to decide to accept or reject the elector’s choice. If they do not concur on the outcome; that is, if they do not both agree to accept either the elector’s or the governor’s list, the votes of the state’s electors certified by the Governor (Certificate of Ascertainment), must be counted.
Thus for Hilary to be elected. two things must work in her favor:
(1) The electors must vote differently than indicated on the governor’s list
(2) Both houses must accept the elector’s changes – If both houses fail to agree on the elector’s list, than the governor’s list must be used.
Although any number of extraordinary things could happen according to this scenario, none of them are likely. This scenario represents wishful thinking on part of the liberals. Because, as usual, the liberal push for their cherished agenda is being based on false or partial information. This time the blinders are on the eyes that prepared the Hilary petition. They presented false information to their readers and would be liberal supporters. According to the information they provided, the penalty for an elector altering his or her vote is minimal:
“If electors vote against their party, they usually pay a fine. And people get mad (that’s all). But they can vote however they want and there is no legal means to stop them in most states….Even in states where that is not allowed, their vote would still be counted, they would simply pay a small fine – which we can be sure Clinton supporters will be glad to pay!”
In fact, the punishment for electoral violations are not always minor; several states carry felony punishments for trying to influence or tamper with electors. For example in the State of Florida, bribing or attempting to influence the vote cast by an elector is not a simple misdemeanor but a felony. Florida Statue 104.061: ”Corruptly Influencing Voting”, stipulates:
“Whoever by bribery, menace, threat, or other corruption whatsoever, either directly or indirectly, attempts to influence, deceive, or deter any elector in voting or interferes with him or her in the free exercise of the elector’s right to vote at any election commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084 for the first conviction, and a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084, for any subsequent conviction.
“No person may personally or through an agent, by any act compel, induce, or prevail upon an elector either to vote or refrain from voting at any election for or against a particular candidate or referendum.
“If you’ve been anywhere near Facebook or Twitter in the past several months, you’re probably aware that there is a case working its way through the courts that accuses Donald Trump of raping a 13-year-old girl in 1994.
“On Wednesday, the woman, who remains anonymous, was slated to appear at a press conference with her new attorney, Lisa Bloom, the daughter of Gloria Allred Bloom, wrote a column about the case in The Huffington Post last summer.
Although this case has been subsequently dropped, others are pending such as the law suit over Trump University, which trial is scheduled begin later this month, and anything else that the legions can cook up or partially support in anyway to vilify Trump.
In spite of these eventualities, New Era does not foresee a Clinton victory in the Electoral College. Since the House of Representatives is controlled by Republicans, even if several key Republicans voted against Trump, he still represents the Republican ticket; moreover, a vote against Trump would mean an endorsement of Hillary, which is highly unlikely unless the elector happens to be a neocon.
Given the history of the Electoral College, the legal parameters built around it, and the unlikely scenario of electors in only 15 states engaging in an unprecedented electoral initiative, we do not foresee a Clinton victory. Such an occurrence is highly remote. Given the fact that Clinton supporters are increasingly active and being encouraged to carry on their protests, given the fact that a petition, no mater how specious and misleading, is operative, and that neocon electors might turn to Hilary make the possibility of a Clinton victory in the Electoral College less remote; nonetheless it is still remote.
Since these are highly volatile times, times filled with bursting emotion and bitterness, as well as with hope and expectation, the solution for Trump supporters is prayer. If God’s hand is active in human history at this key moment, as we believe it is as evidenced by Christian renewal all around the globe, God will continue to take care of the issues. Trump opponents are confused and baffled; they have been hit with a flaming loss just when everything seemed to be going their way; they are unsure how Trump could win, unsure about what just happened.
Unsure or not, it did happen just as it is happening elsewhere around the globe. God’s people in the United States must therefore do their part, just as they are elsewhere around the world. The appropriate response is opposite of that adopted by the liberal camp. Not to the streets with violence and hatred but to the streets, if necessary, with positive support of their candidate and most of all, to the knees in prayer and reparation; not violence but prayer for forgiveness, mercy and compassion and for God’s will to be done. This is the appropriate response for Christian men and women, the appropriate and most powerful means by which they will finish what has been begun: Getting Donald Trump into the White House with God’s blessing and the proper support of Christian men and women who take the high road, while their opponents continue to wallow in their feculence. To assure God’s blessing, their liberal opponents no matter how annoying must not be ridiculed, belittled, accosted, or abused but loved, understood, pitied, and mercifully prayed for:
“Yet the archangel Michael, when he argued with the devil in a dispute over the body of Moses, did not venture to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him but (simply) said, “May the Lord rebuke you!” But these people revile what they do not understand and are destroyed by what they know by nature like irrational animals.
Woe to them! They followed the way of Cain, abandoned themselves to Balaam’s error for the sake of gain, and perished in the rebellion of Korah….They are waterless clouds blown about by winds, fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead and uprooted. They are like wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameless deeds, wandering stars for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved forever.
So, “Lord have mercy.”
Excellent explanation of this last ditch desperate attempt to gain the presidency for Clinton by bribing the electors. Imagine the response from the media if the roles were reversed and Trump supporters were making this attempt. As you say, we do need to take the high road and show compassion to political opponents for whom their politics is their religion, for whom their righteous ends always justify any means, and for whom commitment to their cause requires that they exhaust any and all means to achieve their political ends.