Can 'faithless electors' flip Presidential election for Trump? POTUS can change rules of Electoral College and win
President Donald Trump, nearly a month after the projected results of the 2020 presidential elections, has still refused to concede to President-elect Joe Biden in the poll contest. With no indication of the Republican president acquiescing to the election results, some observers have stated that the only way Trump could overturn the certified election results and continued to remain in power is by changing the rules for the US Electoral College. Reports state that a change in rules would only materialize depending on how many state-appointed representatives to the Electoral College become "faithless electors," challenging their votes and casting their ballots for the Republican.
In an effort to officially declare the winner of a presidential election, the United States uses an electoral college system, with every state having at least 3 electoral votes. Presidential candidates seek to garner 538 total electoral votes and a candidate must have at least 270 votes to declare an election win. The former Vice President, according to projections by the Associated Press, is expected to receive 206 electoral votes while Trump is projected to receive 232 votes. However, the number could reportedly be changed if some of the electors change their decision and vote for Trump instead.
At least 17 states in the country reportedly do not have laws requiring electors to cast their ballots for the pledged candidate, according to FairVote, a political website. Out of the 17, Biden is the projected winner in seven of those states. Illinois and Pennsylvania, won by Biden do not have any faithless elector laws and carry 20 electoral ballots each. If Trump can flip the results in either or both the states, he still would not have enough electoral votes to win the elections. However, if all those seven states won by Biden —Georgia, Illinois, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island— become faithless and flip the votes, then Trump would garner an extra 107 electoral votes, giving him a total 339 winning number for a second term, according to Newsweek. Experts, however, state that the odds of that happening is narrow.
The report comes a day after it was revealed that advisors of Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, are launching a super PAC to nudge the president's supporters to vote in the Georgia Senate runoffs. The move comes amidst rising concern that Trump's supporters will boycott the upcoming Georgia polls. Politico reported that the group, Save the US Senate PAC, will begin airing commercials this week featuring Trump Jr. The advertisements will be aimed at mobilizing Trump supporters across Georgia. The Senate elections in Georgia, scheduled on January 5, is set to decide the Senate control. The super PAC will reportedly air its advertisements only on conservative radio and television stations to reach voters loyal to President Trump.
Ever since the president floated claims of widespread voter fraud in Georgia and in other key states, senior Republicans have been left alarmed that the unsubstantiated claims could discourage voter turnout in the runoffs. The fear of a potential election boycott emerged after Trump supporters accused Georgia’s Republican senators up for election, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, of not doing enough to interfere in the ballot counting in the state for the 2020 presidential elections. Some Trump supporters have reportedly called for potential Georgia voters to write Trump's name instead of the Republican senate candidates.