Yvonne Wingett Sanchez

The Republic | azcentral.com

Arizona's presidential electors have received a torrent of emails and phone calls in recent days pleading with them to choose Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton or any other candidate except President-elect Donald Trump.

The state's 11 members of the Electoral College, who were chosen by the state party, are scheduled to assemble Dec. 19 to cast their official votes for Trump. Electors are not required to vote for Trump but pledged to support the party's nominee through affidavits submitted to the secretary of state.

Four electors told The Arizona Republic Thursday that over the past week or so, they've been hit with thousands of emails, phone calls and letters sent to their work and homes.

Robert Graham, chairman of the state Republican Party and an elector, said the emails are mostly coming from out of state and appear to be part of a coordinated effort to try to deny Trump the presidency by swaying enough electors to back anyone but him.

Similar efforts are underway to encourage "unfaithful electors" in states across the U.S. to oppose Trump.

"It is total harassment," said Graham, who estimates he has received about 1,700 such emails and letters. "It started about a week ago. Now? Bam. It's hardcore."

Graham shared some of the emails with The Republic.

"Your vote against Mr. Trump, a demagogue, would be the epitome of patriotism," one email read.

Read another, "His close ties to Russia, his volatile temperament, his lack of experience, and his bigotry are not the qualities that we want representing us to the rest of the world. ... He lost the popular vote by the most significant margin in history. Please consider casting your vote for another candidate, or abstaining from voting entirely."

And another: "Please vote your conscience at the electoral college — it's clear from the popular vote that most voters didn't want Mr. Trump."

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Bruce Ash, Arizona's GOP national committeeman, said he received more than 300 emails Thursday.

He said the effort is "an outright political maneuver," citing "clone emails." In some instances, when he deletes one, 10 or 15 more flood into his inbox.

He said he has sent images of the emails to the state party's attorneys. He believes the emails amount to an attempt to suppress votes for Trump.

Ash declined to share any of the emails but described them: "They demonize me, they call me a homophobic, an isolationist, a bigot, a misogynist, and an anti-Semite, which is interesting because I'm Jewish."

Ash added, "They are hateful. And for a couple of days I answered them by thanking them and then explaining to them that I felt I had an obligation to the majority of the voters in Arizona who voted for him ... and honoring their vote."

Sharon Geise, an elector from Mesa, said the emails have also flooded her inbox. She estimates she has received 8,000. Many of them are similar.

"Hillary's got a great campaign going," she said. "It's the same thing, pretty much. Basically: Vote for Hillary Clinton. It's bizarre. I don't dare answer my phone."

Geise said 12 letters urging her to back anyone but Trump arrived at her home Thursday.

"She has to stop all of this," Geise said of Clinton. "This is ridiculous."

Alberto Gutier, an elector who works in the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, said he's received about 1,600 emails. Some contain the same language.

"They found my work (information), I have two or three hundred on my personal email at home," he said, adding his son, who bears the same name, is also receiving correspondence. "I'm getting letters at home. They have three messages: Don't vote; vote for Hillary; or vote for anybody you want, but don't vote for Donald Trump."

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Follow the reporter on Twitter and Facebook. Reach her at yvonne.wingett@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4712.