The election is over but there are a lot
of people upset with the results and
looking for alternatives. And some
Hillary supporters still hold out hope
there may be a last-ditch means of
getting the Democratic nominee into the
White House. A change.org petition is
being passed around on social media calling on
members of the electoral college to
change their vote from Trump to Hillary.
So is it possible that after the vote is
over Hillary Clinton could land in the
White House?
Not really. So let's rip this band-aid
off quick. While some electors are bound
by law on how to vote for their state,
some are simply bound by oath and could
conceivably change their mind and vote
against the will of their state's voters.
However even in the event that enough
electors decided to betray their duty and
voted against Donald Trump and even if
it's enough to put some votes below
270, the magic number needed for the
presidency, Hillary Clinton would not get
those votes. Why? Well the electors aren't
just a group of randos off the street.
Typically when a party wins a state
members of the winning party are the
ones that vote in the electoral college.
That means the electors that people are
asking to change their vote are mostly
Republicans. And even if for some reason
they decided they morally cannot vote
for Donald Trump they would not vote for
Hillary. In the rare cases where
electors choose to cast protest votes
they don't vote for the opponent. They
usually vote for their party's running
mate, in this case Mike Pence.
So a best-case scenario for Hillary
supporters is that the Electoral College
rebels and enough votes go to Pence that
the House of Representatives would have
to decide between Trump, Pence, and Clinton. Now
if you're saying well maybe the House
will decide to vote Hillary in, I've got
more bad news for you.
The House would most likely vote for
Trump because the House is
overwhelmingly Republican and it's not a
great political move Republican
representatives to anger their voting
base by voting for a Democrat. And even
if they don't choose Trump they'd most
likely choose Mike Pence. So this push for an
elector rebellion doesn't land Clinton
in the White House. At best it lands Mike
Pence in the White House. So, for those
holding out hope that this was the way
that Clinton would get in... uhh...
Sorry. I'm Jonathan Sobolewski with AL.com
