Justice Clarence Thomas even invoked at character from "Lord of the Rings" to make a point.
WASHINGTON — The justices of the Supreme Court seemed reluctant Wednesday to tamper with the system America uses to choose its president, based on their comments during oral arguments over the workings of the Electoral College.
Lawyers for four electors from Colorado and Washington state who did not conform to the popular votes in their states urged the court to rule that states can regulate only how electors are chosen, not how they vote in December. "The consequences could be chaotic," said Justice Samuel Alito."When there's an election with a small margin of victory, there would be a concerted campaign to change the vote of a few electors.""We shouldn't facilitate or create chaos," he said.
"If there's silence, maybe the best thing to do is leave it to the states," said Justice Elena Kagan. Baca previously told NBC News that after Donald Trump was the apparent winner in November,"I thought we would need electors who would choose a moderate compromise candidate. We wanted to put our country before party and maybe throw the election the House of Representatives."
In Washington, the state accepted the votes of its rebel electors but fined them for violating state law. They challenged the fines, but the state supreme court upheld the law requiring them to conform to the popular vote.
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