The ads, which began running in newspapers across the country Thursday, are funded by Daniel Brezenoff, who made a Change.org petition urging electors not to vote for Trump.
He said the ad is not aimed at choosing Clinton or a specific Republican alternative to Trump but intended to inspire electors to use their own judgment before voting.
“There are times in the life of a nation when extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures,” the ad reads. “Now is such a time, and your courage and leadership are required.”
The ad, which encouraged Republican electors to “vote their conscious,” appeared in the Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Austin American-Statesman, Salt Lake City Tribune and Tampa Bay Times. The ad will also appear on Thursday in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Wisconsin State Journal. All of the newspapers listed — aside from The Washington Post — primarily serve communities in states that turned red on Nov. 8.
"You, Electors, possess the power to prevent this outcome," the ad reads. "You are not bound to cast your vote for the candidate of your party — and, as he won neither a majority nor even a plurality of the popular vote, there can be no question of undermining the will of The People."
The 538 electors will gather around the country on Monday to vote.
On Nov. 8, Trump won 306 electoral votes and Hillary Clinton got 232. For Trump to lose the presidency, 37 Republican electors would have to switch their vote on Dec. 19.
The chances of that happening are very unlikely.
Only one GOP elector, Chris Suprun from Texas, has vowed not to vote for Trump, The Hill reported.
Suprun has claimed other GOP electors are planning not to vote for Trump either, but virtually all GOP electors contacted by The Hill have said they would vote for Trump.