Washington: Five-hundred-and-thirty-eight members of the Electoral College will meet on Monday to cast their votes which will decide whether President-elect Donald Trump will become the next commander-in-chief or, though a rare occurrence, some of them will go rogue and instead cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton.
A vocal movement has pressured Republican electors to abandon Mr Trump even though he won 30 states, giving him the electoral voters needed to be President. Most base their plea on the fact that Ms Clinton won some 2.6 million more popular votes.
Republican elector Carole Joyce from Arizona, where Mr Trump won the most votes, has received hundreds of mails, emails and phone calls from voters who worry that Mr Trump’s impulsive nature would lead the country into another war, the Washington Post reported. Joyce received a Christmas card that read: “Please, in the name of God, don’t vote for Trump.”
“I’ve seen enough funerals. I’m tired of hearing bagpipes. But I signed a loyalty pledge. And that matters,” she said.
Anti-Trump campaigners have been trying to convince the Republican electors who are to vote for Mr Trump to block the reality-television star from the White House. According to the Post, several are targeting Democratic electors, who are supposed to cast votes for Ms Clinton, to persuade them to switch to a more conventional Republican who could also draw enough support from GOP electors to swoop into office.
Republican state party chairmen and other officials earlier this week said they expect nearly every GOP elector to fulfill their pledges and vote for Mr Trump. A poll of more than 330 electors published last week found that there was very little chances of GOP voters going against the popular vote in their home states and going rogue.
Many experts quitting the white house
The White House is struggling to prevent a crippling exodus of foreign policy staffers eager to leave before the arrival of the Trump administration, according to current and former officials.
The Guardian reported that many officials are concerned by the reports about the incoming national security adviser, Michael Flynn. On Wednesday the Washington Post reported that Mr Flynn had improperly shared classified information with foreign military officers.
The top level officials in the National Security Council (NSC) are political appointees who have to submit resignations and leave in a normal transition.
“Career people are looking get out and go back to their agencies and pressure is being put on them to get them to stay. There is concern there will be a half-empty NSC by the time the new administration arrives,” the Guardian quoted an official as saying.
