HUDSONVILLE, Mich. — Regardless of when it begins, the recount effort in Michigan has to move swiftly because the state is up against a hard deadline: the electoral college vote.
Michigan's electors are set to meet Dec. 19 to officially elect the next president of the United States.
Donald Trump won the electoral college, but Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. Because of this, electors say they're being bombarded with calls and letters demanding they reconsider their vote.
A looming recount isn't taking the pressure off either.
Jack Holmes, one of Michigan's electors, says on Dec. 19 he plans to cast his vote in Lansing for Donald Trump.
"Under Michigan law, I am obligated to vote for Donald Trump," said Holmes, an elector and retired Hope College political science professor. "If I do not, then I am automatically removed. I am very enthusiastic about voting for Donald Trump."
Holmes, like many electors across the country, says he's received countless letters, emails and phone calls pleading to him to take the popular vote into account.
However, it's not that simple under Michigan law.
"I'm bound to vote for Trump or I'm deemed to have resigned," Holmes said. "I'm perfectly comfortable with that, because I think the will of the people should be reflected in what the elector does and how the elector votes. The will of the people is very important in this country."
Twenty-nine states, including Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, require its electors to vote for the candidate of the party that appointed them. If an elector wanted to change their vote, they'd be forced to resign and their vote would be replaced with someone who would vote for that candidate.
"It is an election of electors among the states the way the founding fathers set it up," Holmes said. "I think that's good because each state gets their say in this and the presidential candidates need to go to a number of states and be familiar with what's happening in a number of states. I think it's a good system."
With recount efforts looming in Michigan, it'll be a race against the clock to finish it before the Dec. 19 vote.
"It's going to be very hard to do the recount, particularly if it has to be a recount done by hand where they have to look at every ballot as opposed to a machine recount." he said. "It's going to be up to the courts and canvasser bodies to decide what exactly is going to happen and when it's going to happen."
Unlike Holmes, other Michigan electors have shared different stories, including one college student in Metro Detroit who told CNN he's received death threats to change his vote.
Trump is the first Republican to win Michigan since 1988. The state board of canvassers certified his victory with a 10,704-vote margin over Hillary Clinton out of 4.8 million votes cast statewide.
