By: TK Layman Staff Writer
The Electoral College system convened in December to cast their official votes for the next president-elect. Protests and disputes broke out across the country after the general election outcome, including a recount effort in key battleground states led by Green Party candidate Jill Stein as an effort to block the general election winner Donald Trump.
Historically, the Electoral College maintains itself as a formality, electors casting their votes for the state’s winning candidate. With this election cycle, the nation saw a historic movement for electors to turn “faithless”, or vote against the state winner. Many states impose a penalty on “faithless electors”, as a way of deterring them from voting against the final result. Such is the case for a Minnesota elector, who declared a vote against Clinton, the state’s winner. As a result the elector was disqualified and replaced. As electors met in their state capitols, most remained faithful, as many have historically, but a total of seven electors shied away from the results and cast different votes.
In Washington, a state that voted democrat, four electors chose different candidates as a protest vote. In a New York Times vote tally, three democratic electors had voted for former Secretary of Defense Colin Powell, and one elector voting for Faith Spotted Eagle, a Native American activist that led the fight against the Keystone XL Pipeline. Hawaii, who was pledged to Clinton, had one of their four votes cast for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, leaving a total of five democratic electors voting for an alternate candidate.
Republicans, too, had “faithless electors” with two Texas voters, one going to Gov. John Kasich, R-OH, and the other Ron Paul, a candidate during the 2012 Republican Primary elections known for his Libertarian-leaning views. Ultimately, Texas was the state that determined the outcome giving Republican Candidate Donald Trump the 270 electoral college votes necessary to secure the presidency.
Per the constitution, presidential electors are not required to vote for their party’s candidate. However, the 2016 General Election saw the highest amount of faithless electors on record with seven. Many citizens and politicians, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, are criticizing the effectiveness of the electoral college. “We may want to take a look at the whole Electoral College, which is seating a man for president who didn’t get the most votes,” Sanders said speaking up about the system during an interview with USA Today. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton saw a victory in the popular vote with nearly 3 million more total votes. Referencing the 2000 General Election where incumbent Vice-President Al Gore won the popular vote, but former Republican President George W. Bush won the electoral vote.
On Jan. 6 congress met, led by Vice-President Biden, and tallied the final votes for the electoral college. Reuters reported that during a half-hour joint session in congress, some house representatives had tried to object the vote after the official tally. House representatives cast objections to the official tally on the grounds of “Russian interference” according to US Intelligence agencies, others citing concerns about long lines at polling stations as a way to deter voters. Biden quickly dismissed objections stating to representatives, “It is over,” while looking to finish the tally. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, had concerns about the final vote, “That’s why people have some level of dismay today on the vote … about the Electoral College,” Pelosi spoke to the press during a news conference, “How much is known about the foreign disruption of our election? “
As the session ended the final tally came in, ultimately deciding on Donald Trump as the next president-elect with a total of 304 votes to Clinton’s 227. The official inauguration is set for Jan. 20 in Washington D.C.
Contact the author at tlayman16@wou.edu
