Despite protests, nation’s electors back Trump
Vote unanimous in Wisconsin
Washington — There were many protesters but few faithless electors as Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote Monday — ensuring he will become America’s 45th president.
An effort by anti-Trump forces to persuade Republican electors to abandon the president-elect came to practically nothing, and the process unfolded largely according to its traditions. Trump’s polarizing victory Nov. 8 and the fact Democrat Hillary Clinton had won the national popular vote had stirred an intense lobbying effort.
“We did it!” Trump tweeted Monday evening. “Thank you to all of my great supporters, we just officially won the election (despite all of the distorted and inaccurate media).”
He later issued a statement saying: “With this historic step we can look forward to the bright future ahead. I will work hard to unite our country and be the President of all Americans.”
With all states voting, Trump finished with 304 votes and Clinton had 227. It takes 270 Electoral College votes to win the presidency. Texas put Trump over the top, despite two Republican electors casting protest votes.
Wisconsin’s 10 Electoral College members voted unanimously for Trump, making him the first Republican to win Wisconsin since Ronald Reagan’s reelection victory.
“This hasn’t been done since 1984 — 32 years. It’s been a very fun time,” said state GOP Chairman Brad Courtney, who also served as the chairman of the electors’ meeting.
In spite of protests and talk that electors might snub Trump because he lost the popular vote, the president-elect easily secured the necessary votes with few defectors.
Befitting an election filled with acrimony, thousands of protesters converged on state capitols across the country Monday, urging Republican electors to abandon their party’s winning candidate.
In Madison, Wis., demonstrators spoke up or shouted to disrupt the meeting and were asked to quiet down or led out by police.
“Please say no to Donald
Trump. You’re selling us to Russia,” one woman pleaded as the electors voted. “No Putin president,” said another man.
Courtney said that the protests were “democracy at work,” but that it was Trump who had won the state with 1.4 million votes.
With all Republican states reporting, Trump lost only the two electors in Texas. One voted for Kasich, the Ohio governor; the other voted for former Texas Rep. Ron Paul.
Clinton lost four electors in Washington state — three voted for former Secretary of State Colin Powell and one voted for American Indian tribal leader Faith Spotted Eagle.
Several Democratic electors in other states tried to vote for protest candidates, but they either changed their votes to Clinton or were replaced.
The Electoral College has 538 members, with the number allocated to each state based on how many representatives it has in the House plus one for each senator. The District of Columbia gets three, despite the fact that the home to Congress has no vote in Congress.
Republican electors were deluged with emails, phone calls and letters urging them not to support Trump. Many of the emails are part of coordinated campaigns.
There is no constitutional provision or federal law that requires electors to vote for the candidate who won their state — though some states require their electors to vote for the winner.
Those laws, however, are rarely tested. More than 99% of electors through U.S. history have voted for the candidate who won their state. Of those who refused, none has ever been prosecuted, according to the National Archives.
A joint session of Congress is scheduled for Jan. 6 to certify the results of the Electoral College vote.