US Electoral College Members Seek Intel Briefing On Possible Russian Meddling In Election

Forty members of the US Electoral College are asking the CIA to publicly explain its report concluding that Russia launched or sponsored cyber-attacks seeking to help Donald Trump win the 8 November presidential election.

In less than one week, on 19 December , members of the Electoral College will meet in their respective state capitals to cast ballots to determine who will be the next president. The electors are demanding to receive this information "immediately" so that they have time to evaluate it before they are scheduled to cast their votes in the Electoral College to determine the country's next President.

US has an indirect electoral system whereby 538 electors - corresponding to the number of federal congressmen and senators from each state - hold the final cards in determining who wins the presidency.

Some electors are "bound" to vote for the person who wins the popular vote in their states, but others are not, and there is no federal law obligating them to vote in accord with the popular vote in their states.

With inputs from IANS