An attorney representing two "faithless" -- or, if you prefer, "Hamilton" -- electors in Colorado has filed an appeal with the 10th Circuit in an effort to free them to vote for the presidential candidate of their choice, not the winner of the statewide vote.
Polly Baca and Robert Nemanich are Democratic electors who want the ability to vote for someone other than Hillary Clinton on Monday, Dec. 19, when the electors are supposed to meet in the governor's office and cast their votes for president.
They're part of a movement trying to convince Republican electors not to vote for Donald Trump by offering to vote for a compromise candidate, deny Trump the necessary 270 electoral votes to win and kick the election to the U.S. House of Representatives. Doing that would take 37 Republican defectors, and so far there is only one who has admitted his intentions.
On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Wiley Daniel denied a request for an injunction that would have blocked enforcement of Colorado's law that requires electors to vote for the winner of the popular vote here.
And this morning, Jason Wesoky, an attorney for the electors, filed an appeal to the 10th Circuit. It's not clear if that appeal will be heard before Monday, but we'll definitely let you know as we know more.
Meanwhile, there's a hearing in Denver District Court this afternoon as Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams seeks to replace electors who won't perform their duty.
Colorado law says that electors who cannot or will not perform their assigned duties should be replaced, but the logistics of that are not clear at all. The secretary of state's office has also suggested it would be a misdemeanor for electors to vote for someone other than Clinton, as the act would constitute a violation of the election code by a public officer.
