A group of Electoral College voters from Colorado formed a nonprofit organization that seeks to fund campaigns in an attempt to stop Donald Trump from becoming president amid the Electoral College recount.
Referred to as the “Hamilton Electors,” the organization is targeting Republican voters in the hope of swaying them to vote a third candidate. The objective is to either have a new candidate elected or achieve an Electoral College deadlock, according to the Denver Post.
With a 527 status, the organization will be able to raise unlimited funds to serve its purpose. The group claimed it has already convinced one Republican elector.
A Democrat elector named Michael Baca filed the paperwork for the organization on Tuesday. The move is supported by Democratic Party Chairman Rick Palacio.
“I think the majority of the voters in this country are very upset at the outcome of this election,” Palacio told the Denver Post. “The electoral college didn’t do a majority of the American people a favor in this election and I think there are many who are trying to figure out ways to prevent Trump from taking office. I applaud Michael for doing his part.”
Baca’s group is not the only one pulling moves to block a Trump presidency. An electoral college voter from Michigan said he had been receiving death threats to intimidate him from voting for Trump on Dec. 19.
Michael Banerian, youth vice chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, told CNN he had been receiving “death threats, death wishes, generally angry messages trying to get me to change my vote to Hillary Clinton or another person.”
"I've had people talk about putting a bullet in the back of my mouth. I've had death wishes or people just saying 'I hope you die.' Or, 'do society a favor, throw yourself in front of a bus,'" he said. He filed a police report to deal with the threats.
Banerian is firm in his decision to vote for Trump. He also said people should study the Electoral College process to understand that trying to convince him to become a faithless elector is a “pointless endeavor.”
"In the state of Michigan we have laws that prevent faithless electors. So, essentially what happens, if I tried to vote for somebody else, which, let me be clear, I don't want to, but if I tried to, I would be removed and replaced by another elector. It's a pointless endeavor," he said.
Trump carries the popular vote in 30 states, giving him 306 votes in the Electoral College. To prevent a Trump presidency, there would have to be 37 faithless electors voting against him.
Baca admitted there are many hindrances, including legal hurdles, to having Republicans join their campaign.
“In all likelihood, when it’s all said and done, we’ll probably end up sending that money back to the people,” he said.
