Federal judge blocks Colorado electors' attempt to flip votes to keep Trump out of the White House
A federal judge has rejected a move by two Colorado electors who sought to get out of casting their votes for President-elect Donald Trump, the Denver Post reported on Monday.
The two electors, Polly Baca and Robert Nemanich, are among the many voices calling for an uprising, of sorts, in the Electoral College to keep Trump out of the White House.
In the case of Baca and Nemanich, who are both Democrats, they sought to encourage Republican electors nationwide to pick a third-party candidate, and offered to cast their Democratic votes for a consensus candidate, the Denver Post said.
Democrat Hillary Clinton won the state of Colorado in the presidential election.
"Though Hillary Clinton and Timothy Kaine won the majority vote in Colorado and are qualified for office, plaintiffs cannot be constitutionally compelled to vote for them," the lawsuit states.
During a hearing in a Denver court, Judge Wiley Daniel slammed Baca and Nemanich's lawsuit as a "a political stunt."
Colorado's scretary of state Wayne Williams, a Republican, also criticized the effort:
Trump beat Clinton in the Electoral College 306 to 232. Candidates need 270 to win.
Still, the outcome has been under scrutiny since the election ended, as Clinton's popular vote lead has grown to more than 2.6 million votes and counting.
A number of so-called "faithless electors" nationwide have threatened to refuse to vote for Trump when all 538 electors meet on December 19 to certify him as the winner.