Texas Republican Electoral College Member Quits Rather Than Cast Vote For Donald Trump

AUSTIN, TX — A Republican member of the Electoral College from Texas has decided to resign his role as elector rather than cast his vote for Donald Trump next month, according to media reports.

In an earlier interview with Politico, Art Sisneros said he was considering voting against Trump but decided this week to resign from the Electoral College instead of casting a vote for the real estate mogul. Trump secured the necessary electoral votes — to be formally canvassed next month — while losing the popular vote to his political rival Hillary Clinton by more than 2 million votes.

“If Trump is not qualified and my role, both morally and historically, as an elected official is to vote my conscience, then I can not and will not vote for Donald Trump for President,” the Texas Republican said in a blog post. "I believe voting for Trump would bring dishonor to God.”

Sisneros lives in Dayton, Texas, according to the Texas Tribune, a small town in Liberty County with a population of 7,242. The city is located nearly 40 miles northeast of downtown Houston.

Trump won Texas and its 38 Electoral College votes in the Nov. 8 general election. The remaining 537 members of the Electoral College will choose Sisneros' replacement when they convene Dec. 19 in state capitals across the country, the Tribune noted in its report.

"I will sleep well at night knowing I neither gave in to their demands nor caved to my convictions,” Sisneros told the publication. "I will also mourn the loss of our Republic.”

The elector's dissent is the latest bit of drama among members at the Electoral College as the date for the formal vote casting looms. The lead-up to those future votes was itself dramatic, improbably yielding Trump as winner of the presidential contest despite virtually all the polls indicating that Clinton would emerge the victor.

In another bit of behind-the-scenes intrigue to the political drama playing out on a national stage, several Democratic electors are also seeking to undermine the Electoral College system by voting for someone other than their state’s chosen nominee, The Hill noted. The group’s leader, Michael Baca of Colorado, is planning to launch a legal battle to unbind electors in the 29 states where they are required by law to vote according to the results in their respective states.

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