Electoral College members across the nation officially declared Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States, pushing the President-elect over the 270 mark.
Texas’s 36 out of 38 electoral votes for Trump pushed him over the edge at 5:30 p.m Eastern, giving him a total of 304 electoral votes.
Prior to each state conducting it’s Electoral College, the focus was surrounded on the notions on whether any electors would defect from casting ballots for Trump. Drama ensued after when Republican electors were bombarded with phone calls, emails and even threats demanding that they vote for someone over Trump to deny him the 270 count and throw the election to the House. 37 Republican electors were needed to defect Trump from reaching the 270 mark. Anti-Trump forces attempted to sway as many Republican electors, sending memo begging the electors to dump Trump. Even celebrities joined in the shenanigans, filming pleas to individual electors to vote against Trump.
Only two Republican electors in Texas cast their votes for candidates there than Trump. One elector, Chris Suprin wrote an op-ed before voting began explaining his reasoning he would not vote for Trump and will be voting for Ohio Governor John Kasich.
Another Republican elector in Texas voted for Ron Paul.
In the end, more Democrats than Republicans broke with tradition in voting against their own state’s directive, becoming the largest number of “faithless electors” happening in more than a century. 29 states have laws preventing electors from breaking ranks and are legally bound to vote for the winner of the state.
In Maine, Democratic elector David Bright issued a statement on Facebook stating he will cast his vote for Hillary Clinton’s Democratic rival Senator Bernie Sanders.
“So Hillary Clinton will not become President, and there is nothing I can do about that,” Bright posted on Facebook. “Knowing this, I was left to find a positive statement I could make with my vote. I cast my vote for Bernie Sanders not of spite, or malice, or anger, or as an act of civil disobedience.”
Bright voted for Sanders, but his vote was rejected due to state law requiring electors to cast their ballots for the winner of the state’s electoral vote and had to vote for Clinton on a second ballot.
In Minnesota, a delegate cast its vote for Sanders as well, but was removed and replaced with an alternative. All 10 of Minnesota electoral votes finally casted their vote for Clinton.
The state of Colorado saw one elector attempting to vote for another candidate besides Clinton as an attempt to keep Trump out of office. Elector Michael Baca tried to vote for Kasich, but his vote was disqualified and was replaced with another elector. All nine Colorado electors would then voted for Clinton.
However, some states saw electors breaking ranks and voted against their state’s winner.
In Washington state, four of the 12 Democratic voted for someone else over Clinton. Three of those four voted for former Secretary of State Colin Powell and one voted for Faith Spotted Eagle, a Native American elder who protested the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota.
In Hawaii, three of the four electors cast their votes for Clinton, with one vote for Sanders. David Mulinix stated he voted for Sanders because he felt Clinton isn’t qualified to be president. By law, Hawaii requires the electors to vote for the winner of the state. However, Trump was declared the victory by securing enough votes by the time Hawaii electors voted and the vote for Sanders counted according to Hawaii Chief Elections officer Scott Nago.
Shortly after Texas marked the victory for Trump, the President-elect issued a statement thanking the voters.
“The official votes cast by the Electoral College exceeded the 270 required to secure the presidency by a very large margin, far greater than ever anticipated by the media,” Trump said. “This election represents a movement that millions of hard working men and women all across the country stood behind and made possible. 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. Together, we will make America great again.”
Congress under a Republican majority will certify the vote on January 6, 2017.
Here are the results state-by-state.
Alabama – All 9 electors have voted for Trump.
Alaska – All 3 electors voted for Trump.
Arizona – All 11 electors voted for Trump.
Arkansas – All 6 electors voted for Trump.
California – All 55 voted for Hillary Clinton.
Colorado – All 9 electors voted for Clinton, after one attempted to go faithless to try to keep Trump out of office.
Connecticut – All 7 electors voted for Clinton.
Delaware – All 3 electors voted for Clinton.
Florida – All 29 electors voted for Trump.
Georgia – All 16 electors voted for Trump.
Hawaii – 3 voted Democrat and 1 turned faithless and voted for Bernie Sanders instead of Clinton.
Idaho – All 4 electors voted for Trump.
Illinois – All 20 electors voted for Clinton.
Indiana – All 11 electors voted for Trump.
Kansas – All six electors voted for Trump, per 270toWin.
Kentucky – All 8 electors voted for Trump.
Louisiana – All 8 electors voted for Trump.
Maine – Maine and Nebraska are the only states that split their electoral votes. In Maine, Trump earned 1 electoral vote and Clinton earned 3. One of Clinton’s electors, David Bright, announced on Facebook that he was giving his electoral vote to Bernie Sanders. He tried, but he was ruled out of order and the vote was recast, forcing him to vote for Clinton instead.
Maryland – All 10 electors voted for Hillary Clinton.
Michigan – All 16 electors voted for Trump.
Minnesota – All 10 electors voted for Clinton.
Missouri – All 10 electors voted for Trump.
Mississippi – All 6 electors voted for Trump.
Montana – All 3 electoral votes went to Trump.
Nebraska – All 5 voted for Trump.
Nevada – All six voted for Clinton.
New Hampshire – All 4 electors voted for Clinton.
New Jersey – All 14 electors voted for Clinton.
New Mexico – All 5 electors voted for Clinton.
New York – All 29 electors voted for Hillary Clinton.
North Carolina – All 15 electors voted for Trump.
North Dakota – All 3 electors voted for Trump.
Ohio – All 18 electors voted for Trump.
Oklahoma – All 7 electors voted for Trump.
Oregon – All 7 electors voted for Clinton.
Pennsylvania – All 20 votes for Trump.
Rhode Island – All 4 electors voted for Clinton.
South Carolina – All 9 electors voted for Trump.
South Dakota – All 3 electors voted for Trump.
Tennessee – All 11 electors voted for Trump.
Texas – In Texas, 36 out of its 38 electoral votes went to Trump. Chris Suprun wrote today on The Hill that he still intended to cast his vote for John Kasich and not Trump. One of the electors, Sisneros, did not want to vote for Trump.
Utah – All 6 electors voted for Trump, per 270toWin.
Vermont – All 3 electors voted for Clinton.
Virginia – All 13 electors voted for Clinton, according to 270toWin.
Washington – 8 out of 12 voted for Clinton, 3 voted for Colin Powell, and 1 voted for Faith Spotted Eagle.
West Virginia – All 5 electors voted for Trump.
Wisconsin – All 10 electors voted for Donald Trump.
Wyoming – All 3 electors voted for Trump.
Donald TrumpElectoral CollegeHillary Clinton
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