A Republican elector who resigned rather than vote for Donald Trump has said the President-elect does not meet "God's standard" for politicians.
"As a Christian I realised I must go to the Bible," Texan elector Art Sisneros told German broadcaster DW. "It is supposed to be a guy that fears the lord, that rules justly and fairly.
"It means we don't steal from [people] and that we don't use the government to our own advantage. You can see that even as a businessman, [Trump] has used the government and lobbied fairly to his own advantage."
The electoral college system sees state representatives – called electors – formally rubberstamp the result of the election. There are 538 members and they are expected to vote in line with the majority of voters in their state. Throughout history more than 99 per cent of electors have done so.
But a group dubbing themselves the "Hamilton Electors" are urging them to ignore their mandates and vote for a candidate other than Mr Trump.
The Hamilton Electors need to win the support of 37 Republican electors to deny Trump the 270 votes he needs to secure the presidency.
If that happens by the time votes are cast, the election will be decided by the House of Representatives. It's happened twice before – but not since 1824.
And only one Republican elector, New York former firefighter and 9/11 responder Christopher Suprun, has said he will be casting a vote for someone other than Donald Trump.
In a blog post on his website The Blessed Path, entitled 'Conflicted Elector in a Corrupt College', Mr Sisneros explains how he views America as a "republic" and not a "pure democracy", arguing that this is closer to the intention of the farmers of the American Constitution.
He writes that as "in most homes, kids do not have the right to vote to eat Skittles for dinner," so electoral college politicians charged with voting in a president should over-rule the public will if they think it is in the best interest of the public.
At that time he was considering a 'faithless' vote for Hillary Clinton or a third party Republican candidate, but has since resolved to resign rather than follow through on his pledge to vote in line with the will of the Texan people.
"I have sinned in signing that pledge," Mr Sisneros writes on his website. "I humbly confess that it was wrong for me to do so."
