News

Actions

Florida electors pressured to go rogue

'Please vote with conscience'
Posted at 11:57 PM, Dec 09, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-10 00:02:14-05
It's been one of the most controversial elections in recent memory and while election day has come and gone, the battle over the electors has just begun.
 
Michael Barnett, one of 29 Florida electors and the chair of Palm Beach County's Republican Party, said he gets inundated with emails, letters and phone calls every day, asking him not to vote for Donald Trump and instead vote for a different Republican candidate. 
 
Barnett read one of the letters for us. 
 
“Dear Mr Barnett, please vote with your conscience for the 8-year old boy who asked tearfully: “does this mean we’re going to have World War III?” 
 
Or another one from a woman in Montana: 
 
“Please vote with conscience to be the emergency break that Hamilton created.”
 
Florida elector Robin Bernstein has a similar experience. 
 
“Probably around fifty to hundred emails a day," Bernstein said."And then around 20-30 letters a day.”
 
Most of the pleas have a common theme. 
 
“Alexander Hamilton is almost always quoted in these emails and letters we get," Barnett said. 
 
Alexander Hamilton, one of our founding fathers, wrote the basis for the argument that electors do not have to just rubber stamp the vote in their state. 
 
In the Federalist 68 he argued that the electoral college should instead determine if a candidate is qualified. 
 
“There is nothing in the constitution that says they can be bound by the state," said NewsChannel 5's political analyst Brian Crowley.
 
One elector in Texas has done exactly that and decided not to vote for Donald Trump. 
 
But Florida is not Texas. The Sunshine State is one of 29 states that bind their electors legally to vote for the candidate who won the vote. 
 
Crowley said there are no direct penalties involved because up until now faithless electors have not overturned an election. 
 
“While I don’t think any of the Florida elector to change their minds, if they do I don’t expect them to face any penalties,” Crowley said.
 
Bernstein and Barnett said they are voting with their conscience for the candidate they have supported since day one. 
 
"I am very excited to vote for Donald Trump," Barnett said .
 
On Dec. 19 electors will cast their vote and for Bernstein and Barnett that day can't come soon enough.
 
"Stop harassing me," Bernstein said. "Stop emailing me. Stop calling me.”