Well, Hamilton’s electors just got a slap in the face in their own failed lawsuit to free electors who are bound by the state’s election results. A federal judge appointed by then-President Bill Clinton told two Colorado electors who filed the lawsuit that they must vote for whoever wins their state in the 2016 election, throwing a huge humid blanket over the group’s failed attempt to block President-elect Donald J. Trump from becoming president. In fact, that’s exactly what the judge said, calling the whole exercise a political stunt that could disrupt a peaceful transition. While Clinton won Colorado, there are actually electors who don’t want to vote for her on Dec. 19 (via AP):
A federal judge on Monday put a major damper on an unlikely plan to strip Donald Trump of the presidency through the Electoral College, refusing to suspend a Colorado law that requires the state’s nine electors to vote for the presidential candidate who wins the state in November.
U.S. District Judge Wiley Daniel denied a motion by two Colorado electors who argued that a law linking their vote to Colorado election winner Hillary Clinton violates their First Amendment rights and the intent of the framers of the Constitution. The electors sought the right to vote for someone other than Clinton in order to unite behind a Republican consensus other than Trump when the Electoral College convenes on Dec. 19.
Daniel said suspending Colorado’s requirement would hurt voters in the state and jeopardize a peaceful transition of president. “Part of me thinks this is really a political stunt to keep Donald Trump from becoming president,” said Daniel, who was nominated to the bench by Bill Clinton in 1995.
These electors recently formed a 527 group to raise money for such legal battles, hoping to be exempt from their respective state laws regarding tying state votes to Electoral College votes. The alternate candidate for this group of electors was Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who bluntly rejected the maneuver and said he would not accept what might come of this futile attempt to stop Trump. Much like the intrigue with Jill Stein of the Green Party, it is time for all those still reeling from Trump’s surprise victory to accept it. It has been weeks since Election Day 2016. The game is over. Period. Trump will be our next president.
