On Monday, as members of the electoral college cast their votes for president across the nation, so-called “alternate” electors gathered in at least a few states that President-elect Joe Biden won and attempted to cast votes for outgoing President Donald Trump as part of some kind of delusional attempt to keep Trump’s options open — or something. These so-called alternate electors don’t actually have any legal standing, and there’s no apparent path to achieving legal standing for their fake electoral votes, no matter any ignorant rambling from the Trump team. On Monday, Michigan State Police actually blocked so-called “alternate” electors from entering the state capitol, which authorities had locked down for the actual electoral college vote amidst “credible threats of violence.”
A spokeswoman for Michigan state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R) revealed the so-called “credible threats of violence” in a statement before the electoral college vote and cited “recommendations from law enforcement” underpinning the decision to close the entire state capitol complex to the public on Monday. The FBI has infamously thwarted a plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D), and armed protesters already stormed the Michigan state capitol building on one infamous occasion.
In footage from a scene outside of the Michigan state capitol on Monday, an officer tells a group of Republicans as follows:
‘Per the Capitol Commission, per the governor’s office, per the Speaker of the House, per the Speaker of the Senate, the Capitol is closed unless you have an office here to conduct business today or if you are taking part in the Electoral College process.’
Subsequently, the murmuring crowd insisted that they themselves were electors, although this characterization is simply not accurate. As in the cases of every other state across the nation, members of the electoral college have already been selected according to state laws, and these electoral college members simply do not include the Republican alternates. The officer noted to the frustrated Republicans that the actual electors were “already here.” Watch footage of the debacle below:
“The Electors are already here, they’ve been checked in.” Michigan State Police are blocking access to the Capitol, preventing the GOP Electors from getting inside #Michigan #ElectoralCollege #ElectoralCollegeVote pic.twitter.com/GzTK5gGCJ1
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) December 14, 2020
There is simply no remaining legitimate pathway for Trump to come even close to overturning the election outcome. He and his allies are left with embarrassing stunts like these attempts at “casting” fake electoral votes.
