Electoral College Voter Says He Will Not Vote For Hillary Clinton Even If She Wins His State

[RAFisher]

Source: Huffington Post

WASHINGTON ― An Electoral College voter from Washington state told the Associated Press on Friday that he would not vote for Hillary Clinton under any circumstances, even if, as is firmly expected, Clinton wins his state’s popular vote.

The elector, Robert Satiacum, is a Native American who supported Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the Democratic Primary and told the AP that Clinton is a “criminal” who hasn’t done enough on Native American issues.

“She will not get my vote. Period,” Satiacum said in a phone interview with the news service.

While that is technically Satiacum’s prerogative, as an elected member of the Electoral College, he will face a $1,000 fine from Washington for not voting for the winner of that state.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/electoral-college-voter-not-voting-clinton_us_581d145ae4b0d9ce6fbc3941

[RAFisher]

1. This is absolutely insane.

He needs to be removed as an electoral college voter ASAP. If he can't be removed Governor Inslee needs to call a special session of the legislator or something. Are you fucking kidding me Washington.

Welp looks like Clinton will need 271 votes to win because this fucking selfish asshole wants his 15 minutes of fame. If Clinton wins by only 270 it will end in a stalemate because no candidate will have a majority. It will be Clinton-269, Trump-268, and one vote for whoever this piece of shit votes for. Then Congress will most likely, depending on 2016 House results, pick Trump as our next president.

Sorry for the strong language but I can't get over how crazy this is. The only good news is that it's very hard to come up with a map where Clinton wins by 270 and Trump gets 268. Below are some possible scenarios but all are very unlikely.

http://www.270towin.com/maps/woAlD

http://www.270towin.com/maps/ZgNOe

http://www.270towin.com/maps/9Bwkx

http://www.270towin.com/maps/gBLV9

[cstanleytech]

7. I suspect the votes going to look more like Clinton with 294 and Trump 238. nt

[RAFisher]

9. I don't disagree. I think it actually will be higher.

The problem is that as far as I know this is unprecedented in modern times. A Democratic elector in a solidly blue state saying before the election that he will not vote for the Democratic candidate. The other possibility is that more "Bernie-or-busters" somehow became electoral college voters and haven't gone public with their intentions yet.

[elmac]

17. Sam Wang just said 312 EV To Hill giving her a 99% chance

76% chance Dems take Senate. He's a pretty smart Princeton numbers cruncher.

[cstanleytech]

24. To bad we cant take the House as well but the GOP has so many districts gerrymandered

that accomplishing that in this election is almost impossible.

[CreekDog]

48. he should be threatened with a class action suit from Washington voters

if he does not support the winning candidate.

and damages for not representing their vote, along with a dozen statements intending to ignore it.

[world wide wally]

2. Make his fine $10,000

[onenote]

3. Bernie should call him personally and tell him to get his head out of his ass.

[Farmgirl1961]

4. I hope Bernie does give him a talking to

What a schmuck.

[MountainMazza]

6. Bernie's going to have to work on him.

[bdamomma]

59. Yes I think Bernie should intervene on this

this man should not pick this time to do this. Does Bernie read DU??

[TonyPDX]

5. Going out of his way to be a prick, no?

[chillfactor]

8. and just what in the hell...

does this idiot think any of the other candidates would do for the Native American population? What an asshat he is!

[arithia]

10. I hear being an unreasonable jackass is a good way to promote your issues

If Bernie stumping for Hillary isn't enough to sway this person, I sincerely doubt there is a crowbar large enough to remove their head from their ass.

[keithbvadu2]

11. He just wants attention... Look at me! Look at me!

[4 more years]

12. WTF

No more Mr nice guy on this crap. This ass hat needs a visit and let him know this is not a joke.

[former9thward]

30. "I will hunt him down"

Yeah, I'm sure you will....

[Upin]

34. Breaking news...

[warrprayer]

13. Children shouldn't be allowed

To play with fire.

[onehandle]

14. Tofu Palin says something.

Or whoever the fuck this is.

[Panich52]

15. Another reason to dump Electoral College

Talk about abrocation of duty! Who fed him the Trumplodyte cult's snakeoil?

Nothing in Constitution says he has to vote w/ rest if citizenry. State can fine him ... $1000. Paltry sum to hand over presidency to a perverted fascist.

[StevieM]

16. So she reaches out to a Sander supporter and this is how she is treated?

He lies to her, claims he supports her and then betrays her, along with democracy.

And how sick is it that a woman who was legitimately cleared of wrongdoing is being unilaterally declared guilty of crimes--whatever exactly those crimes are.

[Historic NY]

18. If he died he'd be replaced, so it not impossible to do it now.

[former9thward]

31. What does that statement mean?

Be specific...

[jmowreader]

38. He means...

that an elector who has declared faithlessness before the election should have his status as an elector pulled and a person who will vote for the Democratic general election candidate, if (actually when, since WA is traditionally a blue state) the State of Washington breaks for Hillary on Tuesday.

[NYC Liberal]

19. While this guy is an idiot, maybe these "faithless elector" laws will finally get challenged

and thrown out by SCOTUS. They wouldn't hold up to constitutional muster.

Fining an elector for voting the "wrong" way is absolutely unconstitutional.

[roamer65]

20. Yank his ass out of the EC.

Now.

[Crash2Parties]

21. One person, one million votes to be spent however he feels. Sounds like a Republican.

Someone should explain to Mr. Satiacum that if Clinton wins, on the day after the inauguration he'll be picking up right where he left off in his struggle. If Trump wins, it's likely his fight will be pushed back a decade, maybe two.

Has he not noticed that Trump and the rest of the GOP are not exactly...inclusive of minorities? Did he miss the whole "KKK" connection? The Conservative Christians...oh, wait. I've noticed that certain tribes leaders as of late have discarded their own traditions and embraced a rather conservative form of Christianity. I wonder if he follows that path?

[Acorns1]

22. This makes me SO angry!

I'm a Washingtonian and I'm am also a socialist and this guy's "stand" offends me. Its all well and good having ethics and standing up for your beliefs but when you have a job to do and that job involves the beliefs of others than you have to be willing to lean otherwise dont do the job! I agree with everyone who says this guy should be removed as an electrical voter! If he doesn't want to vote for Hillary, fine but don't bring ME down with you!

Not only that but I STILL don't get these people who were for Bernie and are still so upset he lost that they are willing to spit on the rest of us by helping Trump win and sometimes actually vote for him! It doesn't make any sense! If you think Hillarys a criminal, fine! She's not Moher Teresa and she doesnt claim to be but she's also NOT Donald Trump! And if you help Trump win, how is that honoring Bernie in ANY way??? So you're saying if Bernie can't be president, Trump should be??? He's the complete antithesis of Bernie Sanders! And their messages couldn't be further from each other. Its mental. Its just freaken mental and I'm ashamed of this fellow Washingtonian.

[stopbush]

29. Actually, Hillary is a MUCH better person than was Mother Teresa.

Read Christopher Hitchens' book on MT. Eye opening.

[TexasTowelie]

23. This isn't Late Breaking News.

I posted an article about this subject from The Olympian in the Washington Group on October 14.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10825780

[RAFisher]

25. The AP intervied him today. He's now saying he definitly won't vote for Clinton.

Before he just said he probably would not vote for her.

October

“On Dec. 19 when it’s time to go down there, we’ll see what happens on that day,” Satiacum said. “Right now, I can’t with clear conscience and good heart write her name on that certificate.”

Today

“She will not get my vote. Period,” Satiacum said in a phone interview with the news service.

[sabbat hunter]

26. WAshington

has a law that requires electors to vote for the candidate that they were chosen for. It is actually illegal to be a 'faithless' elector.

[RAFisher]

27. And he's saying he doesn't care because he'll pay the $1,000 fine. That's the punishment - $1k fine

He's vote will still count. They can't change his vote. They can only punish him for going against the voters.

http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=29A.56.340

[scscholar]

28. But he isn't going against the voters

That's the entire point of the electoral college, and why we need to do away with it.

[Elian Gonzalez]

32. That is Not What the Electoral College Does

This is not how the Electoral College works. It is *not* designed to "go against the voters." This is a basic function that everyone always treats as a some weird conspiratorial group.

The Electoral College was created by the founders as a final check: on the public. Their biggest fear: that a real tyrant would come to power. That a would-be monarchist would undo the American Revolution or would be a threat to the U.S. Constitution. Presciently, they foresaw a desperately horrible individual like Donald Trump.

It never has been used to "go against the voters" in the history of the country. Not even before the Civil War. This ignorance about the Electoral College is shocking, really, but it appears that civics lessons stopped being given in American high schools some time ago.

Since the state of Washington binds its electors, this is ultimately a pointless and stupid move. And despite people thinking that Hillary Clinton needs 271, that is not right: it is 270, regardless of this one elector breaking his arm patting himself on the back for what he thinks is his "principled stand."

[kebob]

33. Indict Him!

Come on, Comey, where's your zeal now?

[burrowowl]

35. Time to abolish the Electoral College

[fleabiscuit]

36. "Faithless Electors" can be removed. nt

[alcibiades_mystery]

37. He ain't gone do shit

Clown ass motherfucker.

[TexasBushwhacker]

39. Does he expect Trump to do anything for Native Americans

Trump, the guy who calls Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas". He was ELECTED to vote for the candidate that wins his state.

[olddad56]

40. That should be treason. This person needs to be replaced at the very least.

[RWW]

41. Replaced

The qualification is that the elector vote for the person getting the most votes in the state. If you can't abide by that, then you got to go. You DO NOT represent me! Get to stepping now.

[davidn3600]

43. 100% Constitutional for him to do that

There are laws in some states that threaten criminal penalties for "faithless electors." But no one has ever been charged and some legal experts say prosecution may be unconstitutional. No one knows...prosecution has never been attempted, mainly because the electors that have gone rogue never mattered in the final count.

But what this man is suggesting on doing is perfectly legal, perfectly Constitutional.
There is absolutely NOTHING in the federal constitution that guarantees your right to vote for president nor anything in there that guarantees your vote to be tied to the Electoral College. It's not in there. The popular vote is absolutely meaningless to the federal Constitution.

Ultimately.....You better assume Hillary now needs 271 to win. And you better hope he doesn't inspire any other faithless electors.

[raccoon]

45. This is one reason, among others, why we need to get rid of

the Electoral College.

[malthaussen]

46. Then he should resign as elector or be removed.

This shit has gone on long enough.

-- Mal

[Thor_MN]

47. "He appears unwilling to vote for Trump"

Looks like some third party might get an electoral vote this year.

I think the voters in his state should get the right to decide his punishment if he does not represent them. $1000 is way too small a fine for screwing more than 400,000 people.

[truthisfreedom]

49. Obviously he was always intending to do this.

It was his objective to draw attention to himself and not do his duty as an Electoral College voter from the very beginning.

This man will be a pariah. Bernie should single him out now and let everyone know exactly what he thinks of this self-serving fool.

[KellyW]

51. I was at the state convention where he was elected.

He lied to us when he said he would support the nominee. How can he complain about Clinton after the ultimate betrayal he has committed against me personally? There is an alternate elector for him and I sincerely hope he is disqualified and replaced as an elector before Dec 19th. I was the alternate elector for Washington’s 2nd CD in 2008. I would have run for elector this year, but I have taken a Federal appointment and will be overseas on that service on Dec 19th Regretfully, I am going to recommend that we just have the state party executive committee serve as electors in 2020 and forever. It has been nice that regular folk be able to take part in this footnote of history, often as a reward for a lifetime of service to the party. But Bob has ruined it for everyone

[Kittycow]

55. Do you know how he can be removed now?

[KellyW]

60. not specifically, but there will be a way if neccessary

Our state party consigliere has been pressed on the matter, but he has waved off everyone concerns with "My best suggestion is that we not lose sight of the immediate issue, which is winning the election of Tuesday so big that what Bob chooses to do isn’t relevant to the outcome. It is not worth getting distracted from the election Tuesday by a hypothetical situation that the press is entranced by because it allows them to speculate endlessly rather than talk about issues of substance. If there is a reason to think about this after Tuesday and before the next time we nominate electors we’ll have plenty of time."

I disagree with his approach. We should get after this before it becomes an issue.
He (and another of our state electors who has made wobbly statements) should be smacked down hard and removed immediately. The party is a private organization that controls its own rules. We could replace him if we want to.

[Kittycow]

61. I agree with you!

You mentioned that he lied to a room full of people and the fact that this is evidently being brushed under the rug is so unjust to me!

I'm also a life-long Oregonian and I seem to take what happens in WA personally lol

[liberalhistorian]

50. If this fucking clueless idiot

thinks the orange talking STD will do any better on Native American issues, he really does live on another fucking planet. Drumpf has a well-documented hatred of Indians going back over twenty years, and he will not hesitate to use any presidential powers to smash all tribes to bits, abolish the federal trust doctrine, and basically bring back the Indian policies of the 19th century. After all, he admires Andrew Jackson and his "ethnic cleansing" policies towards them.

I live on a Indian reservation in the west, and my husband works for a tribe. They and surrounding reservations and tribes are absolutely terrified. And so are we, though we're not tribal members.

[still_one]

52. There is a thousand dollar penalty which he says he would

gladly pay, so if they can replace him, they should.

Bernie Sanders should really give this idiot a call

[Hassin Bin Sober]

53. They need to up the fine immediately. Make it hurt.

[still_one]

54. Sure they do, but it isn't going to happen this election

[Quantess]

56. Time to throw out the ancient, moldy, electoral college!

Who the fuck does this asshole think he is?

Look bud, I wanted Bernie Sanders, too, but that ship has sailed.

[EricMaundry]

57. The Electoral College empowers assholes like this jerk?

Time to shitcan it.

[smirkymonkey]

58. +1000