The US Supreme Court ruled on Monday that states can require members of the Electoral College, the so-called 'electors', to cast their votes for the presidential candidates they had pledged to support.
This comes just months before the November 3 presidential election in the US.
According to the country's electoral system, weeks after members of the Electoral College are elected, they cast the actual votes for their party's presidential candidate. In many states, there are laws requiring electors to promise that they will support the state's popular vote winner.
In 2019, the Washington State Supreme Court imposed fines of $1,000 on three Democratic electors who had cast their ballots in 2016 for Colin Powell instead of their states' popular vote winner Hillary Clinton.