© James RobinsonTrump supporters celebrate as more states are called at a watch party at the Radisson in Camp Hill, Nov. 09, 2016.
The Department of State says certain information, including a list of Electoral College electors, is publicly available as part of the Pennsylvania Election Code. That list, provided by the president-elect or his representative, included the electors' contact information, according to the department.
PennLive spoke to an elector said she received 18,000 emails, 130 letters and postcards and numerous phone calls after her address and phone number was released. She said she hasn't attempted to read all the emails, but most were urging her to cast her vote for Hillary Clinton.
The elector asked not to be identified, out of fear of further harassment.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review interviewed two other electors -- Craig Stewart, of Cumberland County, and Ash Khare of Warren County -- who each said they had also received thousands of emails.
"Most of the emails that I read were sincere and respectful," Stewart told the Tribune-Review, "but I don't even bother reading them anymore. Who can read 20,000 emails?"
PennLive has used voting data to show which Pennsylvania counties gave Trump the most support during the election.
"Previously, the Pennsylvania Department of State redacted everything except for names for these types of requests," said state GOP spokeswoman Megan Sweeney.
"The Department of State's actions are directly responsible for the unprecedented harassment and potential endangering of Pennsylvania's electors by people who want the electors to ignore the will of the people."
Lawyers from the state Republican Party and Trump's campaign are exploring their legal options, Sweeney said.
Pennsylvania has 20 Electoral College electors. State parties select their 20 electors months before the election and submit them to the Department of State. When voters voted for Trump, they were actually voting for his slate of electors, who will gather Dec. 19 at the capitol to cast their votes for president in the state's Electoral College.
There is no U.S. Constitutional provision or federal law that requires electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote in their states.
Murren noted that the department had posted only the names and home counties of the electors on its website. However, she said, under state election law, the list of electors is a public document. The department followed the Election Code requirements by releasing the list, upon request, to registered voters, she said.
But the state Republican Party is not having it.
"These electors were never on the ballot, nor were they ever candidates," Sweeney said. "Nevertheless, Governor Tom Wolf's Department of State chose to break with precedent and release the phone numbers and home addresses of Pennsylvania's twenty electors."
Comment: See also: What happens if an electoral college voter switches their vote on Dec. 19?