Story highlights The electoral college typically votes in accordance to the popular vote

Electors cast their ballots on December 19 to formalize the presidential election

Washington (CNN) As poll margins get slimmer between unpopular candidates and polarization continues to increase among the American electorate, could rogue electoral college voters swing the election?

Theoretically, yes. It's just highly, highly unlikely.

"There have been a number of occasions in the past where individual electors have, in effect, thrown away their vote," Jack Rakove, a history and political science professor at Stanford University, told CNN's Michael Smerconish Saturday.

Since no instance of this in recent history has affected the final outcome of an election, people don't normally take notice, Rakove said.

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