Open Letter to the Members of the Electoral College

My fellow Americans:

In a few weeks you will meet to formally elect the President. On November 8, Secretary Clinton won the popular vote. As a proud supporter of Lincoln Chafee and a former supporter of John McCain and Ronald Reagan, I ask you to ratify that vote and elect Clinton.

The Constitution established the Electoral College as the bastion of our Republic. In most cases, the Electors followed the will of the voting majority in their individual states. However, a majority of states do not require their Electors to do so, and there is no legal reason the Electors cannot choose the winner of the national popular vote instead. In this case, the Electors have a Constitutional and moral responsibility to do so. Donald Trump -- the apparent winner of Electoral College votes by state -- promised to use the Presidency to break the law, violate the Constitution, persecute minorities, and harass his critics.

• Trump pledged to order the assassination of terrorists' family members, even if they are themselves innocent. It goes without saying that murder is illegal. Assassinating civilians is unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment, as no one may be deprived of life without due process of law.
• Trump promised to order torture. This is illegal under the War Crimes Act, the Torture Victim Prevention Act, the Detainee Treatment Act, and the Geneva Conventions. It also violates the Eighth Amendment, which forbids cruel and unusual punishment.
• Trump vowed to deport eleven million people living in the United States. This is unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment, as it will be impossible to serve due process on so many individuals.
• Trump wants to deport children born to illegal immigrants even if those children are themselves citizens. This violates the Fourteenth Amendment, guaranteeing equal protection to everyone born in the United States. It may also be illegal under the Eighth Amendment, as deporting innocent American children to countries they've never visited and where they don't speak the language could be considered cruel and unusual punishment.
• Trump vowed to imprison innocent people including Secretary Clinton, her lawyers, and the so-called "Central Park five" -- all of whom have been cleared of any wrongdoing. This violates the Fifth Amendment, as no person may twice be put in jeopardy of life or limb for the same offense. It also violates the Sixth Amendment, guaranteeing the assistance of counsel, for no lawyer could represent a defendant if they would be prosecuted for it.
• Trump said he will send American citizens to Guantanamo Bay prison to be tried by military commissions. This is illegal under current law.
• Trump wants to reinstate racist "stop and frisk" laws. These have been struck down as unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment (protection from unreasonable searches and seizures) and the Fourteenth Amendment (guaranteeing due process and equal protection.)
• Trump signaled his intention to serve as President and run his international businesses at the same time. This would violate Article One of the Constitution, which forbids the President from accepting payments from foreign states. (President Trump would be accepting a payment from a foreign state every time a foreign government official stayed at one of his hotels. He would also be accepting payments every time he sold or leased real estate to a foreign government.)
• Trump pledged to create a database of all American Muslims, and vowed to prevent Muslim Americans traveling abroad from returning home. These promises violate the First Amendment, guaranteeing freedom of religion. He also pledged not to allow any foreign Muslims – including ambassadors and diplomats -- to enter the country. This would violate treaties with those nations, and would also be illegal. If Trump can do this to Muslims, he can do it to anyone – including minority Christian and Jewish groups.
• In October, Trump said we should cancel the Presidential election and make him President right away. This would violate Article Two of the Constitution, which guarantees a Presidential election every four years. Since candidate Trump wanted to cancel the 2016 election, President Trump may cancel future elections and refuse to leave office. If this sounds impossible, remember: in 1851, the democratically elected President of France refused to leave office at the end of his term. Instead, he seized power and ruled dictatorially for the next twenty years.
• Trump said he will order the IRS to harass the Washington Post. This violates the First Amendment, guaranteeing freedom of the press.
• During his run for President, Trump violated campaign finance laws by soliciting contributions from foreigners. He also violated the Logan Act by calling on Russian hackers to break American laws.
• Trump is a serial adulterer and cheated on all three of his wives -- and continued to pursue women, including married women, while married. Though this is not itself illegal, Trump bragged that he'd tried to force himself on women, including married women. Sexual battery is a felony in the jurisdictions where that took place. Seventeen women have accused him of harassment.

If someone had told me a year ago that I would be writing you a letter asking you to elect Secretary Clinton as President, I would not have believed them. Nevertheless, a Trump Administration endangers our country in ways that a Clinton Administration would not. For instance: Trump has extensive ties to the Russian government; Clinton does not. Trump has insulted John McCain and our veterans; Clinton has not. Trump is a white supremacist and misogynist; Clinton is not. Clinton has pledged to work with people who disagree with her; Trump has threatened to use the Justice Department and the IRS to retaliate against people and newspapers who criticize him.

While the Electors traditionally elect the winner of the individual states' popular vote instead of the national popular vote, it is undemocratic -- and unprecedented -- to deny victory to a candidate who won almost three million votes more than her opponent.

Our Constitution can be amended, but it cannot be overthrown. The Electoral College exists to make sure this does not happen -- that no candidate who plans to violate the law is elected President.

Donald Trump is such a candidate. He has pledged to disregard the Constitution and oppress innocent American citizens. He threatens our country, our democracy, and our republican form of government. He must not be allowed to take office, and you have the power and the responsibility to prevent it. I ask you to put love of our country before loyalty to Trump. I stand with millions of our fellow citizens imploring you to elect Secretary Clinton, the winner of the popular vote.

Yours Sincerely,

C. Colvin

San Francisco

November, 2016