To: Presidential Electors
Electors: Vote your conscience
Vote your conscience: Reject Donald Trump as the president of the United States due to interference from the Russian government, unconstitutional conflicts of interest, and the popular vote results.
Why is this important?
Quick history lesson: Among the reasons for the creation of the Electoral College was "to stop a demagogue—a tyrannical mass leader who preys on our prejudices—from becoming President.” And, as spelled out by Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist Papers, to prevent "the desire in foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils."[1]
Yet, in just a few days, the Electoral College could cast their votes for a demagogue whose victory seems to have been aided by efforts of the Russian government. There has been evidence that Trump supporters were in communication with Russian government officials. And furthermore, there is evidence that Russian-backed parties were behind hacks into the Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign. These same parties may have also hacked the Republican Party, but chose not to leak any information from that attack.
If Donald Trump's massive financial conflicts of interest that would violate the Constitution, his unrepentant demagoguery, his embrace of unconstitutional policies, and the fact that he lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes were not enough to convince electors to vote against him, then benefitting from, and possibly colluding with, cyber warfare from a foreign power aiming to undermine our 240-year-old democracy absolutely must be the final straw.
The truth is that the Electoral College should be abolished, as more than 600,000 MoveOn members have said in a recent petition. And if it didn't exist, Hillary Clinton would have won the election with a commanding popular vote victory. But since it does exist, for now, electors can and must embrace their right to vote their conscience and be the final safeguard against an unfit president.
We know it's a long shot that the electors will block Trump. But we have to try.
[1] "The Electoral College Was Created to Stop Demagogues Like Trump," Time, November 17, 2016
http://time.com/4575119/electoral-college-demagogues/
Yet, in just a few days, the Electoral College could cast their votes for a demagogue whose victory seems to have been aided by efforts of the Russian government. There has been evidence that Trump supporters were in communication with Russian government officials. And furthermore, there is evidence that Russian-backed parties were behind hacks into the Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign. These same parties may have also hacked the Republican Party, but chose not to leak any information from that attack.
If Donald Trump's massive financial conflicts of interest that would violate the Constitution, his unrepentant demagoguery, his embrace of unconstitutional policies, and the fact that he lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes were not enough to convince electors to vote against him, then benefitting from, and possibly colluding with, cyber warfare from a foreign power aiming to undermine our 240-year-old democracy absolutely must be the final straw.
The truth is that the Electoral College should be abolished, as more than 600,000 MoveOn members have said in a recent petition. And if it didn't exist, Hillary Clinton would have won the election with a commanding popular vote victory. But since it does exist, for now, electors can and must embrace their right to vote their conscience and be the final safeguard against an unfit president.
We know it's a long shot that the electors will block Trump. But we have to try.
[1] "The Electoral College Was Created to Stop Demagogues Like Trump," Time, November 17, 2016
http://time.com/4575119/electoral-college-demagogues/