Nelson: Who casts Tennessee’s electoral votes, and why it matters now

Daily Memphian
Michael Nelson
Michael Nelson is contributing editor and columnist for The Daily Memphian, the political analyst for WMC-TV, and the Fulmer professor of political science at Rhodes College. His latest books are “Clinton's Elections: 1992, 1996, and the Birth of a New Era of Governance" and “The American Presidency: Origins and Development, 1776-2018.”
“Faithless electors” – those who were elected to support the nominee of their party, then voted for someone else – have been rare. In the 13 presidential elections from 1964 to 2012 there were six. But in 2016 alone, there were seven faithless electors.