Austin 'Vigil For America' At State Capitol Urges GOP Electoral College Members Not To Vote Trump

AUSTIN, TX — On the eve of the Electoral College formal casting of votes for the next president, a group will be staging a "Vigil for America" outside the state Capitol Sunday evening, urging electors to vote their conscience.

"Join us for a candlelight vigil outside the Texas State Capitol to support Republican electors voting their conscience for a real president," organizers wrote on Facebook. The gathering is decidedly anti-Donald Trump, who secured victory via the Electoral College even while losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2.8 million votes.

"The Founding Fathers designed the Electoral College to stop an unfit man with proven foreign influences from taking office," organizers wrote. "Now is the time for Americans to put our differences aside and unite in our shared goal of stopping Donald Trump."

Untold millions have taken issue with Trump's divisive rhetoric, including GOP members of the Electoral College. Recently, a second elector from Texas made headlines when he said he would not cast his ballot for the businessman-turned-politician, citing the president-elect's incessant tweeting on trivial matters and seeming aversion to more substantive issues of the day.

"Mr. Trump goes out of his way to attack the cast of 'Saturday Night Live' for bias," Christopher Suprun, a Dallas paramedic and Electoral College member, wrote in the New York Times. "He tweets day and night, but waited two days to offer sympathy to the Ohio State community after an attack there. He does not encourage civil discourse, but chooses to stoke fear and create outrage. This is unacceptable."

His dissent followed that of a fellow Texas elector, Art Sisneros of Dayton, Texas, who quit his position as a member of the Electoral College to avoid having to cast a ballot for Trump. In a subsequent blog post, Sisneros said casting his ballot for Trump "...would bring dishonor to God."

The local gathering is part of a growing, national movement urging electors not to cast their votes for Trump. In the days following his election, the real estate mogul's picks for Cabinet positions have only heightened such concerns. Among those questionable picks is Texan Rex Tillerson, the top executive of ExxonMobil, who's been tapped as Secretary of State despite having no previous governance or diplomatic experience and deep business and personal ties to the Russian government that many have labeled as troubling.

At last check, more than 500 people had signed up to attend the vigil, scheduled to take place from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the Capitol grounds. The vigil will come during the coldest day of the season in Central Texas thus far, with temperatures expected to dip into the lower 20s.

Organizers urged participants to wear purple, a symbol of courage and unity, and a comination of "Red and Blue coming together in our nation's darkest hour," organizers wrote. "We will gather in a spirit of peace, so respectful signs are welcome."

The local gathering is one of many taking place across the country on the day before the Electoral College members cast their ballots on Dec. 19. For more information on the movement, click here.

>>> Photo credit: Gage Skidmore, Flickr, used under Creative Commons