DENVER — Colorado officials said Wednesday that they want the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court ruling that presidential electors can vote for the candidate of their choice and aren’t bound by the popular vote in their states.
The August decision by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver puts “our country at risk,” Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said at a news conference attended by Attorney General Phil Weiser.
Griswold has decried the ruling as a violation of the one person, one vote principle.
Weiser said the decision threatens to put presidential elections “in the hands of a few unaccountable presidential electors.”
Four of the nine high court justices must agree to accept a case for it to be heard. Griswold and Weiser filed their petition Wednesday.
Presidential electors almost always vote for the popular-vote winner in their states, and some states have laws requiring them to do so.
Under the Electoral College system, voters who cast their ballots for president are choosing electors who are pledged to that presidential candidate. The electors then choose the president at the Electoral College.