Democrats to Block Trump’s Presidency, Clinton Urged to Call for Vote Recount

Local Editor

A group of US Democratic electors is seeking to block Donald Trump from becoming president by persuading a number of Republican electors to rebel against the party and reject Trump in the upcoming Electoral College vote, local media reported.

The electors are set to vote for president and vice president on December 19. According to early November's election results, Trump secured the necessary 270 electoral votes and is expected to get the backing of 290 Republican electors. Hillary Clinton is expected to receive 228.

The group of Democrats, mainly from Washington state and Colorado, are now seeking to persuade Republican electors to vote against Trump and support a third party, such as Mitt Romney or John Kasich, in spite of their oaths as well as local laws in some states, the Politico online magazine reported Tuesday.

However, with the prospects of a successful sway of votes bleak, the electors seek mostly to undermine the authority of the Electoral College in the process and fuel the movement to eliminate the institution, according to the magazine.

"I do think that a byproduct would be a serious look into Electoral College reform," Michael Baca, the group's leader and a Democratic elector from Colorado, told the news outlet.

In case enough electors reject Trump and the Electoral College fails to choose a president, the final decision will be up to the House of Representatives.

Another elector said that in case this stage is reached, the process would create enough political turmoil to raise the issue of abolishing the Electoral College.

In a related platform, a growing number of prominent academics and election lawyers are urging Hillary Clinton to challenge the results of the Nov. 8 presidential election, saying US authorities should recount the votes in key battleground states.

The group warned that its analysis of electronic voting machines in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania suggests that results may have been manipulated or hacked in some counties.

In a conference call with Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta last week, the experts said they had evidence of irregularities in those key states.

In Wisconsin for example, the analysts said Trump claimed disproportionate wins in counties that used electronic voting compared with those that used only paper ballots.

The coalition is preparing to present a report to congressional committees and federal authorities to relay its concerns.

"I'm interested in verifying the vote," said Dr. Barbara Simons, a computer scientist and adviser to the Election Assistance Commission [EAC]. "We need to have post-election ballot audits."

A second group of analysts, led by John Bonifaz, the founder of the National Voting Rights Institute and Professor Alex Halderman, the director of the University of Michigan's center for computer security and society, is also taking part in the push for a recount.

On November 8, Trump won the US presidential election by gaining a major electoral lead over his rival despite Clinton's lead in terms of popular votes. The inauguration of the US president-elect is to take place on January 20 after the Electoral College vote.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team