Could Donald Trump and Republicans circumvent the 2020 election results with “faithless” Electoral College electors who defy American voters?

In North Carolina, at least, it’s unlikely.

The Atlantic reported Wednesday that the Trump campaign is “laying the groundwork for post-election maneuvers” that might include having Republican lawmakers install electors in battleground states to vote for Trump in the Electoral College even if he loses the popular vote in those states. The plan could focus on swing states with Republican-led legislatures, including Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

This is not the fever dream of conspiracy-obsessed media. When asked about the possibility, Pennsylvania GOP chair Lawrence Tabas was non-committal. “I just don’t think this is the right time for me to be discussing those strategies and approaches, but [lawmakers appointing electors] is one of the options,” he told The Atlantic. “It is one of the available legal options set forth in the Constitution.”

Could it work in North Carolina? First, a brief civics lesson. By N.C. statute, presidential electors for each candidate are nominated in August by the party of the presidential candidates or the candidate themselves. When North Carolina’s presidential winner is elected, the governor appoints those candidate’s electors and instructs them to be present at the State Capitol in early December to vote for their candidate. Electors must vote for the candidate/party who selected them — or resign.

The N.C. General Assembly is adjourned until January, so Republicans don’t have an avenue to choose their own electors. A special session requires the governor or 3/5ths of both the N.C. House and Senate to call one, former General Assembly special counsel Gerry Cohen told the Editorial Board. “So that’s unlikely to happen,” he said.

There are also questions about whether the faithless elector scheme would violate federal law. A memo from the National Task Force on Election Crises said that the law requires states to appoint their slate of electors on Election Day and that state legislatures overriding the will of voters would likely run contrary to the Constitution. Such an attempt would surely end up in the courts, perhaps including the Supreme Court and its hastily appointed new justice.

One thing is certain: It’s incredible that such memos are necessary and that such constitutional end-rounds are even being discussed. But it’s becoming clearer than ever that the president intends to create a landscape in which Republicans can question the legitimacy of the vote, then act upon those questions. In a news conference Wednesday, Trump was asked to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the 2020 election. Trump wouldn’t do so, talking instead about getting “rid of the ballots” – presumably mail-in ballots – and how the “ballots are out of control.”

Then he warned: “Well, we’ll see what happens.”

Trump, of course, has hinted at this before. He’s complained about rigged elections and fraud he seems to see in every vote that might go against him. All of which is, quite simply, baloney. But never before has our president — any president — so bluntly declined to uphold the very core of our Constitution.

The Founding Fathers crafted our country’s path largely with the assumption that the people who led it would act honorably. Our political and governmental structures are alarmingly underprepared for someone who so clearly doesn’t care what the rules are. But now, our country could face such a threat.

It’s no longer hyperbole to speculate that the president might not concede if he loses. It’s not overreacting to wonder what excuse he will invent to avoid admitting he has lost. He’s inventing it right now, a fictional fraud that could allow him to cling to power if voters say he shouldn’t. Republicans in Congress, including Sen. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr, should declare now that they will not let Trump throw this election, and this country, into doubt.