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Vigil Held In Downtown LA To Urge 538 Electors Not To Name Trump President

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com)   —  The country's 538 electors are to officially cast ballots Monday to choose the next president.

As KCAL9's Brittney Hopper reports, a candlelight vigil in downtown LA Sunday night was hoping to sway those votes.

President elect, Donald Trump won the electoral college vote even though opponent Hillary Clinton won the popular vote.

After the election, many have called on the electors to go against the norm and instead pick the candidate who won the popular vote.

A sentiment echoed among this group,

"This is a way out for us. We've made a mistake and we need to rectify the mistake and we are calling on the electors to do that," said one woman.

Statistically speaking,  electors don't typically change who they voted for initially.

But, 80 electors --all democrats except for one republican -- now say, they need more evidence about Russia's involvement in the presidential election before they can cast their votes.

"What I want is the information to be out there so that the American public and electors know who has been involved and make sure that we protect the integrity of the American democracy," Clay Pell, a democrat from Rhode Island, said on Fox News Sunday.

The president-elect's surrogates say intelligence findings that Russia meddled in the U.S. election to help Trump have been inconclusive.
And they dismiss the efforts of electors who want to delay the vote.

"It's about democrats that can't accept the outcome of the election. It's about de-legitimizing the American system. It's not going to work," says incoming White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus.

Political experts say the chances of that enough electoral college members would change their vote -- are slim.

Gary Kelly, who attended the Sunday night vigil says, he's not holding his breath..

"I know its very unlikely that it will happen. I'm not unrealistic about it but I think we have to keep the message going that we know she won the popular vote and that we're aware of that and he will be aware of that throughout his presidency," said Kelly.

In response to all of the electoral drama, the president-elect tweeted this Sunday night, "If my many supporters acted and threatened people like those who lost the election are doing, they would be scorned & called terrible names!"

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