It’s finally over: Donald Trump has secured 304 Electoral Votes following the Texas vote (with 2 faithless electors), officially securing the presidency of the United States. Of course, the now official President-Elect Trump took to twitter to confirm the victory:
Texas’ 36 electoral votes for Trump pushed him over the edge at around 4:30 Central Time, even though two rogue electors’ defections deprived Trump of one of those votes. That gave Trump 304 total electoral votes.
A quick recap of the day’s events from the WSJ:
Typically just a formality, this yearâs Electoral College vote attracted an outsize amount of attention after a group of mostly Democratic electors made a late push to block Mr. Trumpâs path to the White House. They argued the Electoral College had a constitutional duty to act independently of the will of the voters in extraordinary circumstances. Protesters gathered in several state capitols across the country to encourage electors to reject Mr. Trump.
Four Democratic electors in Washington state broke ranksâwith three casting ballots for former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and one for Native American activist Faith Spotted Eagle. In the vice presidential vote, the Washington vote was even more unusual, with electors casting votes for a trio of female U.S. senators: Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Maria Cantwell of Washington and Susan Collins of Maine. Another elector cast a ballot for Winona LaDuke, an environmental activist.
Several other attempts by electors to cast ballots failed. The Associated Press reported that attempts by Democratic electors in Colorado and Maine to vote for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders failed. In Maine, the elector was ordered to vote again, while in Colorado an elector was replaced.
The final count:
- 304 Trump
- 228 Clinton
- 3 Powell
- 1 Kasich/ Paul
- 1 FAITH SPOTTED EAGLE
Source: Zero Hedge
Congratulations President Elect Donald Trump!