Federal Court Gave Anti-Trump Electors Great News [View all]

[HAB911]

A ruling by a U.S. Appeals Court in Colorado on Friday in a case filed by Democratic electors has helped pave the way for Republican electors to cast their votes against Donald Trump when the Electoral College meets on Monday. In a footnote appended to its ruling the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals suggested that state officials are constitutionally barred from removing faithless electors – those who vote against the winner of their state – once voting has begun.

In their order the court’s three judges said that any attempt by Colorado’s Secretary of State to remove faithless electors “after voting has begun” would be “unlikely in light of the text of the Twelfth Amendment,” which covers the functioning of the Electoral College. That interpretation is excellent news for the movement to convince Republican electors to block Donald Trump, as it provides a solid legal backing for violating state laws that require immediate removal of electors who break with their pledged vote. Such laws are in place in 28 states, many of which were won by Trump.

The lawsuit filed in Colorado ultimately aimed to overturn that state’s version of the pledged elector law, a move that was denied by the court even as it offered the interpretation that electors would be legally protected from removal once voting had actually begun. Jason Wesoky, a lawyer for the two electors who filed the suit, said he may pursue Supreme Court review of the matter. Any such review, however, would likely not occur until after the College’s vote on Monday. The most relevant piece of the ruling, however, is the declaration that there is no legal basis for removing electors once voting has actually begun regardless of the state faithless elector laws.

http://occupydemocrats.com/2016/12/18/federal-court-just-gave-great-news-anti-trump-electors/

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/electors-colorado-court-appeals-232777