When a September 22 Inquisitr article detailed how denying both Trump and Clinton even just one state’s electoral votes with an aggressive campaign to write in Bernie Sanders could throw a wrench in the entire election, it seemed almost unimaginable and highly implausible. Yet, it was not long before Berniecrats birthed multiple write-in campaign groups, armed with the understanding of the 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and renewed hope.

These Bernie Sanders write-in proponents were quickly countered by an onslaught of social media users claiming that Sanders could not win, because “only a handful of states count write-in votes for candidates who did not pre-register for the election.” Of course, in the event of a near-tie, even one state’s electoral votes have the ability to throw the election and force the incoming House of Representatives to decide the next president. The possibility of a Sanders presidency is not as far-fetched as it once seemed.

Opponents of the strategy speculated that the boom of the targeted write-in campaign for Bernie Sanders was fake. They backed up their theory that #OpDeny270 was the brainchild of Clinton’s super PAC by reminding Sanders’ would-be write-in voters that Clinton’s super PACs had just announced that it would be waging social media war on third-party candidates.

Incidentally, though, the timeline of the renewed interest in the write-in campaign also correlated with the date the Inquisitr was published. Berners are more passionate than your everyday, run-of-the-mill “basement dwellers,” but that should not be news to anyone.

At any rate, supporters of #OpDeny270 were forced to repeatedly explain the 12th Amendment to internet skeptics, but a candidate from Utah has finally forced the mainstream media to validate the authenticity of the 12th Amendment. They are covering this unusual path to the White House, but as usual, they aren’t covering the grassroots army working on behalf of Bernie.

Nope. The mainstream media is reporting on a conservative independent from Utah. Out of nowhere and thanks to the recent negative press about Trump’s misogyny, Evan McMullin has gained so much momentum in a new bid for the presidency, that it seems highly plausible that he will be awarded Utah’s six electoral votes.

No. Seriously. An independent is set to take Utah’s electoral votes.

While the mainstream media (which has seemed to treat Clinton with kid gloves this entire election) has not so much as acknowledged the massive grassroots campaign to write in Bernie Sanders strategically in states where such votes would be counted, they were quick to report that the 12th Amendment could be Trump’s undoing through the valiant efforts of voters from Utah.

“At 22 percent, I’m in a statistical tie with Trump and Clinton, within the margin of error,” McMullin wrote in the Hill. “Our campaign is growing rapidly. Trump’s is collapsing and Hillary’s is sputtering along hoping the election ends as soon as possible.”

People phonebanking, tweeting, facebanking, and canvassing in Vermont for Bernie Sanders understood that just one state could have thrown the whole election to the House, even when many liberals thought it was a hoax. Those invoking a 12th Amendment election for a Sanders presidency were somewhat divided on how many states should be targeted, though. There have been some disagreements about whether to focus on just Vermont, to target a few key states, or to launch the campaign in every state where such votes would be counted. Some progressives wanted to focus only on Vermont in order to avoid inadvertently throwing states to Trump by splitting the liberal vote. The idea of helping Trump was too risky for many Berniecrats, but that risk is evaporating.

Now that it seems McMullin is about to take over Utah and is gaining momentum in surrounding conservative states, these Sanders’ progressives can finally come together with a larger, bolder strategy. Suddenly, even more cautious liberals may be able to write in Bernie or vote Green without fear that they could accidentally throw the election to Trump. Moreover, the Sanders write-in plan might actually be needed to both stop Clinton and prevent a new conservative from landing a seat behind the desk in the oval office.

See, if McMullin wins Utah, Sanders wins Vermont, and neither Clinton nor Trump make it to 270 electoral votes, the House will have to choose from Trump, Clinton, and McMullin. And the father of the new political revolution, the most popular lawmaker in the nation, would stay out of the running again.

Utah has six electoral votes, while Vermont has three. In the event that no candidate earns 270 electoral votes, as the Inquisitr previously reported, the House chooses from the top three candidates.

“Even a few weeks ago, almost no one thought I could win Utah,” McMullin wrote. “Tomorrow, the movement may be spilling over into Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and beyond. The first signs of change are already here.”

A significant number of liberals have been saying to pollsters that their Clinton vote would simply be a vote against Trump. Many would-be Clinton voters can barely stand the former secretary of state but say, “At least she’s not Donald Trump.”

With McMullin seemingly about to yank the possibility of Trump’s presidency out of the realm of reality, everything changes.

McMullin is likely to pick up more states that are pulling away from Trump because the mainstream media is reporting on him as a valid challenger. According to the Desert News, McMullin is a former CIA agent and policy director for U.S. House Republicans. The Clinton team seems to think that Utah could fail Trump too because the campaign opened an office in Salt Lake City. In March, Clinton actually led Trump in the polls 38 percent to 36 percent in Utah. Incidentally, in Utah at the same time, Bernie Sanders led Trump 48 percent to 37 percent, the Desert News reported.

“If McMullin won Utah’s six electoral votes, he would make it almost impossible for Trump to reach the 270 needed to win the White House,” the National Review reported. “Right now, with leads in almost all of the key swing states, the overwhelming likelihood is that Clinton reaches 270. But if she doesn’t, and Trump doesn’t either, then the presidential election will be settled by the House of Representatives, in the process laid out by the Constitution’s Twelfth Amendment.”

McMullin alone could make sure that the presumed “greater evil” stays out of the White House, according to Politico. This would free liberals to vote as they please.

This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for progressives to fully vote their conscience instead of the so-called “lesser evil.” To #OpDeny270 campaigners and participants, that means writing Bernard Sanders for president (and Tulsi Gabbard for VP) on ballots in every state where the vote would be counted and voting Green everywhere else.

[Featured Image by Gage Skidmore/Flickr]