Pennsylvania's GOP electors to meet amid fanfare, security

(AP) — When Pennsylvania's 58th Electoral College meets Monday to cast votes for president, it will do so at a time when many more people are paying attention to the obscure process.

[...] this year, state officials are providing extra security and bracing for larger crowds and demonstrations after Republican Donald Trump won Pennsylvania, a key statewide victory in an election that saw him behind in the national popular vote but winning the projected electoral vote.

Unlike some states, Pennsylvania law does not bind its electors to cast their vote for the presidential candidate who won the state's popular vote.

[...] The Associated Press interviewed 16 of the 20 electors — a blend of senior members of the Republican Party hierarchy in Pennsylvania, GOP activists or early and ardent Trump loyalists and activists — and found strong support to cast their ballot for Trump.

Nationwide, The Associated Press tried to reach all 538 electors and interviewed more than 330 of them, finding widespread Democratic aggravation with the electoral process but little expectation that the hustle of anti-Trump maneuvering can derail him.

For that to happen, Republican-appointed electors would have to stage an unprecedented defection and Democrats would need to buck tradition, too, by peeling away from Hillary Clinton and swinging behind a consensus candidate in sufficient numbers.