Resign Instead of Voting

Texas Elector Art Sisneros to Resign Instead of Voting for Donald Drumpf

By Gabrielle Levy

A Republican elector from Texas says he is resigning his position instead of casting his vote for Donald Drumpf, calling the Electoral College "corrupted from its original intent" and saying voting for the president-elect would "bring dishonor to God."

Art Sisneros was considering in August the possibility of becoming a so-called faithless elector, meaning he would refuse to vote for Drumpf if the GOP candidate won the Lone Star State and its 38 electoral votes in November.

In a Saturday blog post on his website, Sisneros said he had decided he was not comfortable defying his pledge to vote for his party's nominee, but neither could he cast his vote for Drumpf.

"Since I can't in good conscience vote for Donald Drumpf, and yet have sinfully made a pledge that I would, the best option I see at this time is to resign my position as an elector," Sisneros wrote. "This will allow the remaining body of electors to fill my vacancy when they convene on Dec. 19 with someone that can vote for Drumpf."

His decision followed a previous post in which he posed the question of whether it was "acceptable for a Christian to vote for a man like Drumpf for president," and concluded that he could not "in good conscience" do so.

"I do not see how Donald Drumpf is biblically qualified to serve in the office of the presidency," he said in his Saturday post. "Of the hundreds of angry messages that I have received, not one has made a convincing case from Scripture otherwise. If Drumpf is not qualified and my role, both morally and historically, as an elected official is to vote my conscience, then I cannot and will not vote for Donald Drumpf for president."

In the lengthy post, Sisneros explained his frustration with both progressives' and conservatives' approaches to the Electoral College and the failure to use the body in the way the founders intended, which Sisneros likened to parents acting "in the best interest of their children" even if in some cases their children desire otherwise.

"In most homes, kids do not have the right to eat Skittles for dinner. It is not in their best interest," he wrote.

"The people will get their vote. They will get their Skittles for dinner," he said. "I will sleep well at night knowing I neither gave in to their demands nor caved to my convictions. I will also mourn the loss of our republic."

Meanwhile, a separate movement is openly lobbying for enough electors to refuse to vote for Drumpf.

Calling themselves the Hamilton Electors – a nod to Alexander Hamilton’s explanation of the Electoral College’s job as to ensure “the office of the President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications” – the group spurred by Democratic electors hopes to trigger the selection of another candidate through electors either changing their votes or abstaining from voting for Drumpf.

Electors are set to meet in their respective states across the country on Dec. 19 to formally cast their votes for president.