Michael Moore Appeals to GOP Electors: Go Rogue and I Will Pay Your State Fine

Michael Moore Appeals to GOP Electors: Go Rogue and I Will Pay Your State Fine

By DAVID CAPLAN 5 hours ago
Good Morning America

https://s1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/l...9_16x9_992.jpg
Michael Moore Appeals to GOP Electors: Go Rogue and I Will Pay Your State Fine (ABC News)


Filmmaker and author Michael Moore has made an offer to Republican members of the Electoral College: If an elector does not vote for Donald Trump -- which would constitute a violation of their pledge -- and their state is one that imposes a fine for such a violation, Moore will pay it.

In an open letter Sunday addressed to Republican electors on his Facebook page, Moore wrote, "Some states have made it 'illegal' for you to vote any other way than for Trump. If you don't vote for him, your state will fine you ... So here's my offer to you: I obviously can't and won't give you money to vote tomorrow, but if you do vote your conscience and you are punished for it, I will personally step up pay your fine which is my legal right to do."

Moore pleads with GOP electors in his open letter to go rogue, writing, "I am writing you not as a card-carrying Democrat (I'm not) who voted for Hillary (I did), but simply because I am an American who, like you, deeply loves this country and its people ... I am not going to ask you to vote for the person who got the most votes (although I will not be upset should you chose to side with the majority of your fellow Americans and do so!). No, I'm simply asking you to vote your conscience and PLEASE do not put our nation in danger by choosing Donald J. Trump."

The 538 members of the Electoral College, the group of voters from each state that elect the president and vice-president, will meet Monday in their respective state capitals to cast their votes. While it is possible that a few electors who are pledged to Trump could go "faithless" and vote for Clinton or another candidate, most experts expect that Trump will get the 270 electoral votes he needs to win.

As for the penalties imposed on rogue electors, The National Conference of State Legislatures writes on its website, "Some states have passed laws that require their electors to vote as pledged. These laws may either impose a fine on an elector who fails to vote according to the statewide or district popular vote, or may disqualify an elector who violates his or her pledge and provide a replacement elector."

But the NCSL adds, "No elector has ever been penalized or replaced -- nor have these laws been fully vetted by the courts. The states with laws that attempt to bind the votes of presidential electors are below:

According to the NCSL, 30 states have laws that attempt to bind the votes of presidential electors.

https://gma.yahoo.com/michael-moore-...opstories.html