Yet all the electors have to "vote" for the marginal winner.
They aren't compelled to. One of the electors from WA says they won't vote if Clinton wins. It's pretty unprecedented, however.
They aren't compelled to. One of the electors from WA says they won't vote if Clinton wins. It's pretty unprecedented, however.
In practice, electors don't violate those promises unless the promise turns out not to matter. Sometimes an elector will chose to show off by choosing some other candidate to vote for from his promised choice, but always only after checking that it won't affect the final result. Parties pick people that are proven loyal enough over time to be depended on.
And, "no one faithful to our history can deny that the plan originally contemplated what is implicit in its text -- that electors would be free agents, to exercise an independent and nonpartisan judgment as to the men best qualified for the Nation's highest offices."