MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Protesters braved sub-zero wind chills outside Wisconsin's state Capitol on Monday to protest against Donald Trump and urge 10 Republican Electoral College members to "vote your conscience" and cast a ballot against the president-elect.

The protests, both inside the Capitol and outside where the temperature hovered around zero, came hours before Wisconsin's presidential electors were to gather in a fourth floor hearing room to officially award the state's 10 electoral votes to Trump. He won the statewide vote over Democrat Hillary Clinton by nearly 23,000 votes, a margin that withstood a recount earlier this month forced by Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

"It's untenable," said protester Christine Stefano. "It's unimaginable for me to live in a world where this man who lies, lies, lies would become our president."

Stefano, who carried a sign saying "Vote Your Conscience Not Your Pledge," said she came to Madison to protest because it was closer to her Chicago home than the Illinois capital, Springfield, and because the emphasis of the nationwide protests was in the places where Trump won.

Protest organizer Joel Besemer, who runs a homeless shelter in Stevens Point, said he was optimistic the movement could "pull the miracle" and block Trump from getting the 270 electoral votes he needs to become president. Trump won 306 electoral votes in the November election, meaning opponents would need to sway at least 37 electors nationally.

No Wisconsin elector has announced plans to switch their vote to someone other than Trump. Elector and Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brad Courtney has said all 10 will proudly cast their ballots for Trump.

Besemer said even if the protests don't stop Trump from becoming president, he hoped protesters would challenge the president-elect and hold him accountable. He expected 600 people to show up in Madison for the vote, with some of them packing the hearing room and others remaining in the Capitol rotunda.

Arlen Moller, a social psychology professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology, carried a sign saying "Dear Electors: You are the ethical emergency brakes." Moller said he's frightened about Trump becoming president because he believes there's a real chance he could start a world war.

"I want to say I came out in the cold to peaceably resist a dark future," Moller said.

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