GOP Elector Resigns, Says She Can't Support Romney
The defection of multiple electors would be unprecedented in the last 116 years of U.S. politics.
Melinda Wadsley of Ames, Iowa, told The Associated Press that she could not in good conscience vote for party nominee Mitt Romney. Wadsley was among three electors who had told the AP for a story published Thursday that they were exploring alternatives should Romney win their states.
"I have always been a straight ticket Republican, and for the first time in my life I am an undecided voter...
the state party's central committee would begin the process of selecting a replacement, essentially allowing the party to confirm a die-hard Romney supporter.
"I'm undecided at this point," Eastman said, adding that he's "pretty disgusted" with the national Republican Party
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In Texas, elector Billie Zimmerman... considers Romney and running mate Paul Ryan to be just another couple of Republicans who will disappoint her, and she called the GOP convention a "shocking display of deception and treachery and cheating."
Zimmerman said she hasn't decided how she'll cast her electoral vote.
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Nevada GOP elector Ken Searles said he may vote for Paul as a protest, so long as his vote wouldn't change the outcome of the election... Kathleen Miller in Alaska, said she is planning to vote for Romney but left open the possibility of a Paul vote if the outcome of the election was certain
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There have been a handful of faithless electors in recent years. In 2004, one Minnesota elector voted for John Edwards for president instead of his top-of-the-ticket running mate John Kerry. Many observers assumed that was simply a mistake. The Minnesota vote was done secretly, and no one ever claimed responsibility.
A District of Columbia elector abstained in 2000 to protest the lack of congressional representation for the district.
The last time multiple electors defected was in 1896, when William Jennings Bryan was the presidential candidate of both the Democratic Party and the People's Party, with both parties choosing different vice presidential picks. Twenty-seven electors in that race chose the People's Party ticket, even though it didn't win the popular vote.
Either way this election goes down, Romney just got shamed by Iowa. Yup, that Iowa.
And either way this goes, he may be shamed by two unruly GOP electors into making history, at least since 1896. If Obama wins, along with just two whacknoodle GOP electors Goin' Rogue, we can utterly crush Romney and relegate this sleazebag to the dustbin of humiliating political failure.
Thank you Melinda Wadsley of Ames, Iowa for geting the ball rolling.
Let's GOTV!