Posted: Dec 07, 2016 1:53 pm
The election is not yet over.
Hillary Clinton could have legal right to challenge electoral college system and be next US president, says law professor
Legal expert says Ms Clinton could have grounds to challenge 'unconstitutional' electoral college system and claim win, as she takes 2.6 million lead in popular vote
Hillary Clinton may be able to challenge the election result in the Supreme Court and become the next President of the United States, a law professor has said.
Ms Clinton currently has 2.6 million more votes than Donald Trump in the popular count, but lost the election in November because of the idiosyncratic workings of the United States' Electoral College system — a result which academic Lawrence Lessig has said could be ruled unconstitutional.
The process by which the United States elects a president is complicated — rather than US citizens voting for their head of state directly, representatives in the Electoral College choose the winner on behalf of their state.
Almost all states operate a "winner-takes-all" system, which ignores voter margins. So for instance, Ms Clinton got 44 per cent of the vote in Georgia, but because Mr Trump got a larger percentage, none of the state's six representatives in the Electoral College are set to vote for her.
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