Last year the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws agreed to ask state legislators to pass a model law, concerning presidential electors who don’t vote for their own party’s presidential and vice-presidential nominees. The model bill has been introduced in at least three states, including Montana. On February 2, the Montana Senate State Administration Committee passed the bill (SB 75) unanimously.
The model bill provides that political parties, and independent presidential candidates, must nominate twice as many candidates for presidential elector as there are seats to be filled. For each available seat, there is a presidential elector candidate, and an alternate presidential elector candidate. In December, when the electoral college votes, any presidential elector who votes for a presidential or vice-presidential candidate not nominated by his or her party is deemed to have resigned, and is automatically replaced by his or her alternate.
The other states in which the bill has been introduced are Indiana (SB 75) and Nebraska (LB 367). Those two bills haven’t moved yet.