MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Alabama members of the Electoral College are gathering Monday to cast their votes for Donald Trump, unpersuaded by the last-ditch campaign to get electors to break ranks and block Trump from becoming president.
Electoral College members will meet at state capitols across the country Monday to cast their votes for president. All nine of Alabama’s electors told The Associated Press that they are voting for Trump who won Alabama with more than 62 percent of the vote.
“We are rock solid 100 percent,” Alabama Republican Party Chairwoman Terry Lathan said in a telephone interview.
The electors meet at noon Monday at the Alabama Capitol. Here’s what to know about the day:
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STICKING WITH TRUMP
Alabama electors say they are sticking with Trump, citing both their belief in him as president and the oath they took to vote as the majority of Alabama voters did.
“I cannot wait to sign my name certifying Donald Trump as the next president. I’m ready for the 19th. It’s going to be a historic day. I wish everyone would just start to try to come together, look in the mirror and say, Donald Trump is going to be president of the United States,’” said Perry Hooper, Jr. Hooper chaired Trump’s Alabama campaign.
Jim Wilson, a former U.S. attorney in Montgomery, said he too will enthusiastically vote for Trump.
“You take an oath. I have the greatest of disdain for anyone who would take that oath and then violate that oath,” Wilson said.
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ALABAMA ELECTORS TAKE AN OATH, BUT NOT AN ENFORCEABLE ONE
Under state law, the electors took a pledge to vote for Trump. However, state law does not name any specific punishment for breaking that oath.
However, a lack of enforcement teeth in the pledge does not seem to matter. Alabama electors described it as a privilege to vote for Trump and said that they also consider it their duty to fulfill their oath.
The electors - included those that will cast votes Monday - have traditionally had deep ties within their respective political parties. That also minimizes the chances of any sort of voting-day coup in this, or any, year.
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THOUSANDS OF LETTERS AND EMAILS
Electors said they have been bombarded with thousands of emails, letters and social media messages from people seeking them to change their vote.
A fourth-time elector, Will Sellers said he’s “never seen anything this disruptive.” As of last week, he had received more than 2,000 emails. Grady Thornton said most of the communications he has received have been polite, although some have called him a “pig” and a “Nazi.”
Several electors said, while they respect the passion of those behind the push, that they are unpersuaded by the correspondence that they considered largely the work of Democratic activists.
Rep. Tim Wadsworth said almost all of the correspondence he has received has been from people who live outside of Alabama.
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A LAST PROTEST
Demonstrators opposed to Trump have scheduled a rally outside the Alabama Statehouse before the electors cast their votes, as a last-ditch effort to urge them to change their minds.
Frannie James, one of the organizers of the Alabama event, said she realizes it is a “Hail Mary.”
“However, nonetheless we are coming together in peaceful protest to call on members of the Alabama Electoral College to refuse to vote for Trump. We are also coming together in peaceful protest to connect with and support each other so that we can continue to work together to resist the new administration,” James said.
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