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There is a lot of confusion around this news that Trump is considering a plan to appoint “loyal” electors in battleground states, to try to ensure the Electoral College goes his way.

This is a serious sign of desperation, and unlikely to accomplish much.

/1 https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1308768081838329856">https://twitter.com/kylegriff...

First, for background, I wrote a thread back in January to explain the concept of so-called “faithless electors,” and how their actions comported with the framers’ actual intentions for the Electoral College.

While not strictly necessary to know, this is important background.
/2 https://twitter.com/clearing_fog/status/1220526975179034625">https://twitter.com/clearing_...

tl;dr:

The EC was originally *designed* to allow electors to go against the popular vote. This was envisioned as a protection against unqualified, populist demagogues - like Trump.

Clearly it didn’t work, even though one brave elector tried to do this in 2016.
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