The 538 men and women who make up the Electoral College began voting around 7am Pacific Time Monday morning on one of the most politically significant days for President-elect Donald Trump since he won the November 8th general election.
Most will be voting the same way that the results came out in their state on Election Day, though the divisiveness of this year’s contest and lingering dismay among some due to its outcome has caused some to call for electors to buck the trend and vote against Donald Trump. However, it would take 37 of these ‘faithless electors,’ as they’re called, to deny Trump the 270 electoral votes he needs for the presidency and it is highly unlikely that scenario would present itself.
We’re also following along as U.S. intelligence officials work to connect the dots between the hack into DNC emails and links to Russian hacking aimed at tilting the presidential election in Donald Trump’s favor. President Obama has said that the U.S. will respond to Russia at a time and place of our choosing. Russia, meanwhile, is downplaying the accusations, saying that the U.S. should show some proof or stop pointing fingers.
Guests:
Steve Shepard, Editor of the POLITICO Caucus & Chief Polling Analyst
Matt Rodriguez, Democratic strategist and founder and chief executive officer of Rodriguez Strategies; he is also a former senior Obama advisor in 2008; he tweets
Paris Dennard, Republican political analyst and former staffer for President George W. Bush and the Republican National Committee; he tweets