Hot on Social: Is a HAMILTON-Inspired Change in Election Results Possible?

Although Tuesday's election determined that Donald J. Trump will be the next president of the United States, according to the Constitution, the results do not become official until December 19th, when chosen electors of the Electoral College meet in their respective state capitals.

In Tuesday's election, democratic candidate Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 200,000, yet Trump received 290 electoral votes, 20 more than the minimum 270 needed to be elected president. Yet on December 19th, there is nothing to stop the electors from refusing to vote for the candidate to whom they are bound or even from abstaining from voting altogether. While it is a very rare event, the elector in question becomes known as a "faithless elector."

In the aftermath of this week's election, many are questioning why our Founding Fathers set up the Electoral College in the first place. To answer that question, let's hear from Mr. Alexander Hamilton himself, who believed that the electors would ensure "the office of president will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications."

Many of those who are deeply disappointed in the outcome of Tuesday's election are holding out one last hope that Hamilton's concerns will be heeded. With many Republicans voicing their dissatisfaction with Trump throughout the election, the idea that Monday's results could be overturned is theoretically possible. Yet Trump protestors should not raise their hopes too high. According to the New York Times, over 99 percent of electors throughout American history have voted as pledged.

Whatever the final official result is, the Electoral College will most likely feel that on December 19th, "history has its eyes on you."

Photo credit: Joan Marcus