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Election Results Map: Michigan Leans Trump, Colorado Electoral College Member May Become Faithless Elector

By Christine Beswick
Published on: 07:48 PST, Nov 16, 2016

Election Day for the United States passed one week ago, but the final election results map is not complete yet. The New York Post reports that two states, Michigan and New Hampshire, have yet to be called, but Michigan is currently leaning to Donald Trump. With the election results map still not finalized, and the electoral college not having voted yet for the next president, the election is not officially over.

Meanwhile, more and more chatter on a faithless elector movement in the United States has been picking up steam this past week when tallies projected Donald Trump as the new president-elect of the United States. NBC affiliate 9 News reports that a member of the electoral college may become a faithless elector in an attempt to keep Donald Trump from winning the White House.

Hillary Clinton won the state of Colorado on election night by current projections. But the Colorado electoral college member says that if he doesn’t vote for her, it will be to prevent Donald Trump from not winning the White House. He says preventing Donald Trump is the intention of his consideration, and he is not necessarily thinking of going the faithless elector route as a means to help Hillary Clinton, reports 9 News.

In the meantime, there are still a small handful of states that have yet to finalize their tallies. Michigan and New Hampshire are still considered too close to call, reports the New York Post. Michigan and its 16 electoral college votes at this point are reportedly leaning to Donald Trump.

Michigan vote counts currently have Donald Trump in the lead by 13,107 votes. This means he has 47.6 percent of the votes to Hillary Clinton’s 47.3 percent. It’s a very tight margin that is reportedly echoed in New Hampshire, where Hillary Clinton has the edge with 2,701 votes for New Hampshire’s four electoral college votes.

The New York Post states that the Associated Press will not call either race while the margins are tight.

The AP reported, “So long as recounts are possible, AP will not all either race.”

The notion of recounts are definitely part of the post-election chatter but have been in place since before the election. Before the election, it was the Republican camp calling for recounts. After the election, Hillary Clinton supporters are asking that she demand a recount.

In an unusual twist, the faithless elector movement has picked up steam in the U.S., with many Americans calling on the electoral college to put their vote on the winner of the national popular vote, Hillary Clinton. Michael Baca, one registered Democrat who is an electoral college member and is studying at Northern Arizona University, told 9 News he may change his vote when the electoral college casts their vote for the president on December 19.

He’s not only thinking of changing his own vote, but he’s also trying to convince other members of the electoral college to do the same, reports 9 News. He’s become part of a group known as the Hamilton Electors, and he reportedly has about half-a-dozen fellow electors on board with him.

Their ideal plan is that the electoral college vote in another Republican, as opposed to casting their vote for Donald Trump. For Baca and his movement, it’s about avoiding a Donald Trump presidency.

He told 9 News, “I’m a former U.S. Marine and the core values are honor, courage, commitment. I don’t believe Donald Trump has that.”

Every state of the Union has different laws when it comes to going rogue as a faithless elector when the electoral college votes on December 19. Some states require electors to vote with the popular vote of the state as determined by the election results map from election night. An elector who does not do so can be disqualified or be subjected to fines in states that disallow faithless electors.

In Colorado, electors are required to vote with Colorado’s popular vote, and so electors would be legally obligated to vote for Hillary Clinton. But Baca told 9 News that isn’t enough to dissuade him.

He said, “I did violate my word. The votes have not been casted left. We have 34 days. And we’ll see how the election turns out. But I don’t think that the majority of the American public would mind if we avoided a Donald Trump presidency.”

Baca is part of the movement of Hamilton Electors on Facebook. The group’s description reads as follows.

“#HamiltonElectors was started by Democrat Electors willing to put their personal political preferences aside to do what they believe is best for America. The goal of #HamiltonElectors is to encourage Electors of both parties to change their vote to unite behind an alternative Republican Candidate. In accordance with Alexander Hamilton’s vision for the Electoral College, Hamilton Electors will deliberate in the days to come in order to provide an alternative to the unqualified and unvirtuous person our country is faced with. A “We The People” candidate will be selected to provide an alternative for Democrats, Republicans, and Independents to unite behind.”

It is just one of many methods that people are engaging in the electoral college movement that has been heavily discussed when the election results map first started turning red on Election Day. Additionally, a Change.org petition started November 9, asking faithless electors to put Hillary Clinton in the White House has amassed 4.3 million signatures at the time of press. There is also a Change.org petition asking faithless electors to put any Republican in the White House that is not Donald Trump.

[Featured Image by Lee Jin-man/AP Images]

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