Wayne
Williams, Colorado's secretary of state, speaks after arguments in a
lawsuit were heard Monday, Dec. 12, 2016, outside the federal courthouse
in downtown Denver. A federal judge dealt a severe setback Monday to a
longshot plan to deny Donald Trump the presidency through the Electoral
College, refusing to suspend a Colorado law requiring the state's nine
electors to vote for the presidential candidate who won the state in
November. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
DENVER
(AP) — A federal judge dealt a severe setback Monday to a longshot plan
to deny Donald Trump the presidency through the Electoral College,
refusing to suspend a Colorado law requiring the state's nine electors
to vote for the presidential candidate who won the state in November.
U.S.
District Judge Wiley Daniel denied a request by two Colorado electors
who contended that the law binding their vote to Colorado vote winner
Hillary Clinton violated their First Amendment rights and the intents of
the Constitution's framers. The electors had sought the right to vote
for someone other than Clinton in order to unite behind a consensus
Republican other than Trump when the Electoral College convenes on Dec.
19.
Daniel
found that suspending the Colorado requirement would have harmed the
state's voters and jeopardized a peaceful presidential transition. "Part
of me thinks this is really a political stunt to prevent Donald Trump
from becoming president," said Daniel, who was nominated to the bench by
Bill Clinton in 1995.
If
the Colorado electors had been successful, it could have signaled that
similar laws in more than two dozen other states could also be
overturned, freeing a large number of electors to defect from Trump.
Jason Wesoky, who represents the two electors, said he may seek an
emergency appeal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals — the only chance
his clients would have of blocking the Colorado law before they have to
cast their votes.
Should
the Colorado electors be freed, some of them hoped to persuade enough
of their counterparts elsewhere to unite behind a Republican alternative
like Mitt Romney. So far only one Republican elector has announced he
won't vote for Trump. The president-elect won 306 electors last month to
Clinton's 232.
An
attorney for Trump filed legal papers Monday arguing a suspension of
Colorado's law could have sweeping consequences. "This is very serious
stuff," attorney Christopher Murray, who also represented the Colorado
Republican Party, said in court. "If you vote as a free agent in the
electoral college, you're taking Colorado voters' voices away."
An attorney for the state noted that Colorado's ballot only lists the names of presidential contenders, not electors.
Wesoky had argued that voters didn't choose a president on Nov. 8, only electors who had the right to vote their conscience.
Jerad
Sutton, an elector who is not one of the plaintiffs but also wants to
vote for someone other than Clinton if it will block a Trump presidency,
said he was disappointed with Monday's result. "If people vote for
president, Hillary Clinton would be president," Sutton said, noting the
Democrat won the popular vote. "If you believe this Electoral College
exists, those are the people who choose the president."
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