Donald Trump

Pennsylvania's GOP Electors to Meet Amid Fanfare, Security

When Pennsylvania's 58th Electoral College meets Monday to cast votes for president, it will do so at a time when many more people are paying attention to the obscure process. In a normal presidential election year, the ceremonies take place with little fanfare or public attention. But this year, state officials are providing extra security and bracing for larger crowds and demonstrations after Republican Donald Trump won Pennsylvania, a key statewide victory in an election that saw him behind in the national popular vote but winning the projected electoral vote.

A look at the ceremony and the electors:

CEREMONY

The roughly 90-minute event will take place in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives' ornate chamber. Seating for the public is limited and is available on a first-come-first-served basis. Electors will hear from Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of State Pedro Cortes, both Democrats. Each of the 20 electors will be called by name to cast their paper ballots for president and vice president. Tellers appointed by the electors- usually party loyalists- will tally the vote.

ELECTORS

The names of the electors are submitted by the candidate's campaign to the Department of State. Unlike some states, Pennsylvania law does not bind its electors to cast their vote for the presidential candidate who won the state's popular vote. However, The Associated Press interviewed 16 of the 20 electors- a blend of senior members of the Republican Party hierarchy in Pennsylvania, GOP activists or early and ardent Trump loyalists and activists- and found strong support to cast their ballot for Trump.

Electors include the state GOP Chairman Rob Gleason, Pennsylvania's two national GOP committee people and Ted Christian, who ran the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania. They will choose officers during the ceremony.

UNBOUND

Nationwide, The Associated Press tried to reach all 538 electors and interviewed more than 330 of them, finding widespread Democratic aggravation with the electoral process but little expectation that the hustle of anti-Trump maneuvering can derail him. For that to happen, Republican-appointed electors would have to stage an unprecedented defection and Democrats would need to buck tradition, too, by peeling away from Hillary Clinton and swinging behind a consensus candidate in sufficient numbers.

Pennsylvania's electors- like many nationwide- have been deluged with calls, letters and emails in recent weeks, enough that the state Republican Party made a complaint to the state police. For that reason, security will be tight at the event, state officials say.

Still, the vote by the 20 electors is a secret ballot, making it theoretically possible for an elector to choose someone besides Trump without detection.

"I just would anticipate that the 20 electors in the commonwealth would follow what the voters want,'' said Bob Asher, an elector and the GOP's national committeeman from Pennsylvania. "And they wanted Donald Trump.''

ELECTORAL VOTES

Pennsylvania has 20 electoral votes, fifth most in the nation, in a tie with Illinois. The number is based on the census and equal to its allocation of U.S. representatives and two U.S. senators. The number has been shrinking in recent decades, from a high of 38 in the 1920s, as Pennsylvania's proportionate share of the national population has fallen steadily. It is expected to shrink again after the next census.

Pennsylvania was one of the original 10 states to vote in the first presidential election in 1788, won by George Washington. Trump's victory was the first for a Republican in Pennsylvania's presidential contest since 1988.

Trump beat Clinton by just over 44,000 votes out of more than 6 million cast, or by less than 1 percent.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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