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Electoral College Makes It Official For Donald Trump, Despite Attempts By 'Faithless Electors'

Electoral College Makes It Official For Donald Trump, Despite Attempts By 'Faithless Electors'
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump arrives to speak during a USA Thank You Tour event at Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, U.S., December 15, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
Lucas Jackson / Reuters
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump arrives to speak during a USA Thank You Tour event at Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, U.S., December 15, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

WASHINGTON ―The Electoral College formally selected Donald Trump as U.S. president on Monday, even as several electors bucked their states by opting to cast their presidential ballots for someone other than Trump or Hillary Clinton.

Members of the Electoral College met in their respective state Capitols to vote for the presidential and vice presidential candidates for whom they had pledged to vote earlier this year. Many electors, however, are not legally bound to vote for a specified candidate. Some electors ― known as "faithless electors" ― have in the past voted against their political party or abstained from voting altogether.

Trump hit the necessary threshold of 270 electoral votes after Texas' representatives cast their ballots. Congress will meet in a joint session on Jan. 6 to count the Electoral College votes.

Maine Democratic elector David Bright announced in advance that he would cast his ballot for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who lost to Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary.

"I cast my vote for Bernie Sanders not out of spite, or malice, or anger, or as an act of civil disobedience," Bright said in a statement. "I mean no disrespect to our nominee. I cast my vote to represent thousands of Democratic Maine voters ― many less than a third my age ― who came into Maine politics for the first time this year because of Bernie Sanders."

Maine is one of 29 states plus the District of Columbia that require its electors to cast their ballots for the person the elector is tied to ― in this case Clinton. Bright could face a fine for his actions, but no elector has been penalized in the past.

When Bright cast the Sanders vote Monday, it was ruled out of order. He then voted for Clinton instead.

One of Minnesota's 10 electors, who was slated to vote for Clinton, refused to vote Monday, and was reportedly dismissed and replaced with an alternate.