UPDATE 5:50 p.m. ET: The electoral college confirmed Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States as members cast their official ballot in Washington, D.C. on Monday, December 19, reports the Associated Press.
The real estate mogul-turned- reality star collected more than the 270 votes needed to secure the White House, despite national protests and anti-Trump campaigners who contacted electoral college members and asked them to switch their vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Earlier story below:
While many Hillary Clinton supporters are hoping the majority of the 538 electors will bar President-elect Donald Trump from taking over the Oval Office in January, the results of their votes won’t be announced until Friday, January 6, at 1 p.m. ET, when Vice President Joe Biden reveals the tally to members of the House and the Senate in the House chamber.
The electoral college has had an especially prevalent presence in the media since Trump, 70, made a stunning defeat over his Democratic rival, Clinton — who, it was eventually revealed, won the popular vote by more than 2.8 million — on Election Day.
In the wake of recent reports that the CIA reached a consensus that Russia intervened to help the ex–Celebrity Apprentice host win, more focus has shifted toward the electoral college and its power to strip Trump of the presidency as some believe he is uncomfortably close to Vladimir Putin.
On Monday afternoon, members of the electoral college — which was originally established in 1787 — will “prepare what is called a ‘certificate of vote’ with the results, which is then mailed or delivered via courier to the National Archives, where it becomes part of the nation’s official records, and to Congress,” according to The New York Times.
Despite several state laws that mandate electors vote for their party’s candidate or even informal pledges that they will do so, the Constitution nor federal law requires them to vote accordingly to their political affiliation.
As previously reported, Christopher Suprun — a Republican Electoral College member from Texas — explained in a December 6 interview with the Associated Press why he isn’t casting one of his state’s 38 electoral votes for Trump.
“I am here to elect a president, not a king,” the Dallas-based paramedic told the AP, adding that we won’t be voting for Clinton. “I’m expecting backlash, but that has been par for the course this campaign. People are unhappy. They’re angry. But I’m angry too.”
Suprun, who told the AP that he is voting for Ohio governor (and Republican primary candidate) John Kasich, added: “I was told if we elected Donald Trump, he would transform his personality into being presidential. He isn’t. I wanted him to be presidential, but since the election he hasn’t grown into our institution, he’s attacked them.”
