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Colorado election chief warns rogue electors of potential for perjury charges

After several presidential electors in Colorado indicated they might reject Democrat Hillary Clinton, winner of the state’s popular vote, as part of a national strategy to block Donald Trump’s election, Colorado’s election chief warned that doing so could result in perjury charges.

“If Elector A writes down Bernie Sanders or Ted Cruz or anyone other than Hillary Clinton, they immediately cease to be an elector and they’re replaced,” Secretary of State William Waybe told Politico. “The difference here is you have perjured yourself.”

Williams told Politico that he will be administering an oath to electors prior to Monday’s official meeting of the Electoral College, so any electors who decide to oppose Clinton won’t just be violating the election law that requires them to support Colorado’s popular vote winner – they’ll be violating their oath as well.

Williams said any electors who cast votes against Clinton will be removed and replaced with alternate electors, which, because of the oath, could also result in perjury charges. Williams noted that he is not a prosecutor and therefore couldn’t say if those charges would be felony perjury or misdemeanor perjury, which carry vastly different punishments. Felony perjury carries a maximum of up to six years in prison and a $500,000 fine and misdemeanor perjury carries a maximum of 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Politico reports that a state court ruling Tuesday clarified Williams’ authority to remove any electors who refuse to swear the oath to support Clinton – or agree to the oath but reject Clinton anyway.

The Colorado electors who have indicated their intentions to oppose Clinton are Polly Baca, Michael Baca (no relation), Robert Nemanich and Jerad Sutton, all of whom belong to the Hamilton Electors, a group that also includes four Democrats from Washington State, one Democrat from California and one Texas Republican, that is lobbying Republican electors to back a mainstream Republican alternative to Trump.

A suit filed by Polly Baca and Nemanich to prevent the state from forcing electors to vote for Clinton was denied by a federal judge, meaning the electors must either vote for Clinton or defy the court’s order, which is currently under appeal, and reject Clinton.

Arguing that Williams’ perjury warning is a continuation of threats made against electors that he doesn’t feel is constitutional, elector Michael Baca said he intends to vote his conscience Monday.