Anti-Trump officials nationwide mount last-ditch effort to sway Electoral College voters

As Electoral College electors went to cast their votes Monday, they were met by protesters in a last-ditch effort to block Donald Trump's presidency.

The nationwide protests spearheaded by the left-leaning grassroots Progressive Change Campaign Committee certainly aren't expected to sway the outcome of Monday's vote, but that's not stopping them.

"The idea is to be visible to electors so we can connect with them ahead of the vote and urge them to vote for the winner of the national popular vote," PCCC spokeswoman Kait Sweeney told the Tampa Bay Times.

In a letter to supporters earlier this month, PCCC co-founder Adam Green said the organization was going into the protests with "sober exceptions" but hoped to achieve "two concrete things."

Green wrote:

First, by generating media attention to the idea that Electors who support the popular vote winner, we can make it a source of mockery when Trump claims a "mandate" for an authoritarian, anti-worker, right-wing agenda. And when establishment Republicans in Congress claim a "mandate" to ram millions of dollars of corporate giveaways through Congress.

Second, these events will force the media to report that Trump’s razor thin victories in battleground states were made possible in part by massive voter suppression.

In South Carolina, as electors gathered around 11 a.m., several dozen people stood outside the statehouse chanting with anti-Trump signage. But state GOP Chairman Matt Moore said the protests would not be a deterrent.

"Most Republican presidential electors are grassroots activists and longtime party leaders. The idea that they would not vote for Mr. Trump is ridiculous," Moore told TheBlaze.

"Ironically, Democrats can't accept the results of a democratically held election," Moore added. "But I do appreciate their newfound appreciation of the Federalist Papers and the Constitution."

In Pennsylvania, more than 200 people joined in the protest outside the state Capitol building in the below-freezing weather.

As Erick Erickson noted on Instagram, protesters in Atlanta sang the National Anthem during their demonstration — but no one took a knee.

Electoral College protestors singing the national anthem in Atlanta. None of them took a knee. #savedemocracy #stoptrump #electoralcollege #atlanta #georgia #democracyinaction #trumpwon #dealwithit #trump2016

A video posted by Erick Erickson (@ewerickson) on Dec 19, 2016 at 8:00am PST

Vermont, the first state to report its results, voted as expected with all three electors voting for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, The Associated Press reported.