Congressional lawmakers will meet to certify the results of Electoral College voting, won by Donald Trump, early next month. (TIMOTHY A...
Congressional lawmakers will meet to certify the results of Electoral College voting, won by Donald Trump, early next month. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
Donald Trump cemented his election as U.S. president Monday, reaching the requisite 270 votes from members of the Electoral College as they cast ballots in each state and the District of Columbia.
After electors in Texas – which carries 38 votes total – made their choices late Monday afternoon, Trump reached the required threshold.
Amid efforts to sway members of the Electoral College from voting for Trump, protesters gathered at statehouses from Boston and Denver to Phoenix and Augusta, Maine. In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, some demonstrators reportedly were removed by police after blocking a street. Protesters there also chanted, "No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!" according to The Associated Press.
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Yet in most states, voting went as expected, with electors generally hewing to the results determined by the voting public on Nov. 8.
According to reports, in states where Trump won the popular vote – Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming – electors cast all of their votes for Trump.
Thirty-six Texas electors voted for Trump, with Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas each garnering one vote. Maine also awarded one of its four electoral votes to Trump for defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton in its 2nd Congressional District.
As of Thursday evening, Clinton-supporting states California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia all had turned in unanimous tallies for the Democratic nominee. She also earned the District of Columbia's electoral votes, and was expected to get the votes from Hawaii.
Four electors in Washington state – which voted overwhelmingly for Clinton on Nov. 8 – broke ranks, with three casting ballots for former Secretary of State Colin Powell and a fourth opting for Native American activist Faith Spotted Eagle. Politico reports the moves to Powell marked the first time a major-party elector voted for someone in the opposing major party, as well as the first time electoral votes were cast for an African-American member of the GOP.
And in Minnesota and Maine, electors reportedly attempted to cast ballots for Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who opposed Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary. An alternate was sworn in to replace the Minnesota elector, while the Maine elector's move was ruled out of order and he chose Clinton on a second try.
An elector who did not vote for Clinton also was replaced in Colorado, where the entire
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