Juneau residents hold vigil asking electors to dump Trump

A few participants mill in front of the state Capitol building on Sunday, after a vigil asking Alaska's electors not to vote for Donald Trump. (Photo by Quinton Chandler/KTOO)
A few participants mill in front of the state Capitol building on Sunday, after a vigil asking Alaska’s electors not to vote for Donald Trump. (Photo by Quinton Chandler/KTOO)

It was cold and dark in Juneau when protesters met on the slippery pavement in front of the empty state capitol Sunday to ask this year’s Electoral College not to vote for Donald Trump.

The U.S. Constitution does not require members of the Electoral College to vote the way their state did, but Alaska law requires that electors vote for the candidates nominated by their party.

Evelyn Bass counted between 50 and 60 people in the crowd. She helped organize the vigil to sway electors away from Trump.

“Some probably want to vote for Donald Trump, but some, I’m going to imagine there’s a lot of them that didn’t expect Donald Trump to win the Republican endorsement, and didn’t expect him to win the presidency, and are debating right now what they want to do,” Bass said.

Bass said the Electoral College was created to make sure unqualified candidates aren’t voted into the presidency.

She said similar vigils are being held across the country, but she doesn’t know if they will affect any electors’ votes. If they don’t, she thinks it’s still important to send a message.

Bass said she doesn’t know if it would hurt U.S. democracy if electors ignored the majority vote in their states. She said it’s an important question to consider.

She hopes Sunday’s vigil and a second one planned for Monday, when electors are scheduled to cast their votes, will make people ask whether they want to keep deciding presidential races through the Electoral College.

Alaska’s Electoral College Ceremony

The ceremony begins at 11 a.m. Monday in the Andrew P. Kashevaroff Building in Juneau. Listen live on KTOO, stream it at 360North.org, or watch on 360 North television.

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