Actually when the drafters put together the Constitution, they specifically intended for the electors to vote freely and unbound in case some issue should arise. At one point the Convention considered having Congress elect the president, but they didn't want the President to be overly indebted to Congress. That led to the EC which functions as a temporary, shadow Congress to elect the Pres/VP. Protest votes by electors contrary to the statewide vote would be completely consistent with the intent.
Right, but honestly that is irrelevant now. That's just not how the system is expected to work by the people anymore. People expect the winner of the popular vote to become president, and even if we have another 2000-style situation, people of said states would still expect the winner of the popular vote in that state to win the state in the EC.
I've talked to a lot of people about this over the past half decade, and never have I come across someone who says "well it's the electors choice." This is on top of many not even understanding what the EC is, hence the emphasis on the PV win.
In the end, if he does this, it'll be talked about but ultimately forgotten about... but if somehow it came down to a situation where he ends up swaying the election to Trump, the electoral college is going to become public enemy #1. People don't expect electors to freely choose who they want. They believe their vote counts, and dicks like this WA crybaby only help to hurt confidence in our elections with these kinds of stunts.
