Michael Moore to GOP Electors: "I will pay your fine" if they don't vote Trump

Impact

Filmmaker Michael Moore, in a desperate plea to Republican electors on the eve of the Electoral College vote, has written an open letter promising to pay any fines that may be incurred by GOP electors for refusing to vote for Donald Trump.

In a Facebook post Sunday night, Moore noted that "the Electoral College was designed as 'one final protection should someone who is a danger to the country slip through,'" and that "the national security danger that is Donald Trump" is exactly what the Electoral College was designed to prevent. Moore offered a final incentive to GOP electors: 

"I obviously can't and won't give you money to vote tomorrow, but if you do vote your conscience and you are punished for it, I will personally step up pay your fine which is my legal right to do."

The 538 members of the Electoral College meet today at their state capitals to cast their official votes for president of the United States. The official total will be counted and announced by Vice President Joe Biden, who serves as the President of the Senate, on January 6th at 1 p.m., according to the New York Times

The electoral vote is expected to be 305 votes for Donald Trump and 232 for Hillary Clinton (one Republican elector has declared he will not vote for Trump). A candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes to win.

There has been a concerted effort within the Electoral College to block Trump from gaining the majority. Electors in Colorado, California and Washington — states where vote flipping is illegal — all (unsuccessfully) sued their state officials to allow them to change their votes. A similar suit filed by a Clinton supporter in Alaska was also dropped. So-called "Hamilton Electors," both Democrat and Republican, plan to vote third-party in a final effort to block Trump from the White House.

Harvard professor Larry Lessig recently suggested 20 Republican electors consulted with him about switching their vote. However, it would take 37 faithless GOP electors to block Trump.