Protesters objecting to the election of Donald Trump took to the streets for the third night Friday in cities across America. Chief among their demands is an upset in the Electoral College: In some states, electors can vote for a candidate other than the one selected by a majority of voters in their state without facing legal consequences.
Protesters hope "faithless electors" will support Hillary Clinton, who won the popular vote. Though some electors have been faithless in the past, never have enough changed their vote to alter the outcome of a presidential election. As Snopes put it, such a turn of events is "extremely, extremely unlikely" and would be "wholly unprecedented in American history and would require a sudden and drastic change in the United States' political traditions."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Hegseth reportedly shared war plans in 2nd group textSpeed Read The defense secretary sent information about an attack in Yemen to a Signal group chat that included his wife and brother
-
Judge threatens Trump team with criminal contemptSpeed Read James Boasberg attempts to hold the White House accountable for disregarding court orders over El Salvador deportation flights
-
Biden slams Trump's Social Security cutsSpeed Read In his first major public address since leaving office, Biden criticized the Trump administration's 'damage' and 'destruction'
-
El Salvador refuses to return US deporteeSpeed Read President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador said he would not send back the unlawfully deported Kilmar Ábrego García
-
The Resistance: Is it finally taking off?Feature Mass protests erupted across all 50 states during the 'Hands Off!' demonstrations against the Trump administration
-
Trump says electronics tariff break won't lastSpeed Read The tariff exemptions on smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices are temporary, the administration says
-
Man charged in arson attack on Pennsylvania's ShapiroSpeed Read Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were sleeping when someone set fire to his Harrisburg mansion
-
White House pushes for oversight of Columbia UniversitySpeed Read The Trump administration is considering placing the school under a consent decree
