The two sides in a lawsuit over who Colorado presidential electors can vote for have reached an agreement that they both hope will move the lawsuit along a little faster.

The agreement, announced by Equal Citizens US earlier this week, said the plaintiffs would not seek damages of more than $1 and would not sue Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams in his individual capacity, in exchange for Williams dropping any claims for immunity on behalf of the state.

The fight dates back to last December, when three Democratic members of Colorado’s electoral college – former state Rep. Polly Baca of Denver, Micheal Baca of Denver and Robert Nemanich of Colorado Springs – wanted to vote for someone other than former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who won the presidential contest in Colorado in November.

Eventually, Polly Baca and Nemanich did vote for Clinton, claiming it was done under duress. Micheal Baca attempted to vote for Ohio Gov. John Kasich as part of a nationwide effort to encourage electors to vote their conscience and deny the win to now-President Trump. Micheal Baca was replaced as an elector by Williams and the new elector, Celeste Landry of Boulder, voted for Clinton. 

Williams turned over Micheal Baca’s actions to Attorney General Cynthia Coffman, who declined to prosecute.

The deal announced this week by Equal Citizens US, which is representing the three Hamilton electors, said the plaintiffs will drop their demands for damages and attorney fees in exchange for Colorado waiving any immunity that it might assert against the claim. As a result, the legal question will be able to move through the courts more quickly and resolved before the next election.

According to Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig, the founder of Equal Citizens and an attorney representing the electors, the “Secretary of State and we have very different views of the law. But we are very happy that both sides have recognized how important it is that this question be resolved quickly. Across the country, a record number of electors cast ballots against their pledge. It is important that their right to do that be resolved before it triggers a constitutional crisis.”

Williams, in a statement issued Wednesday, said he looks forward to the court’s ruling.

“We’re confident that Colorado’s law will be upheld, allowing us to get back to the business of administering Colorado’s elections and protecting the vote of its citizens,” Williams said.

But he also took aim at the electors’ claims they were voting their conscience.

“These electors were attempting to trade their votes with electors in other states which would disenfranchise every Colorado voter.”

Williams added that if Colorado’s law about electors is declared unconstitutional, and the electors’ duties become more substantive, he would have to propose legislation to “change how electors are appointed to and identified on the ballot, guard against vote buying and selling, and protect against other corruption.”

The term “Hamilton electors” refers to Alexander Hamilton’s explanation of the way the Electoral College should vote. Hamilton, in a statement often cited by the Hamilton electors, said the “process of election affords a moral certainty, that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.”

Trump won the electoral college vote, 304 to 227, with seven electors voting for someone other than Trump or Clinton.