Six weeks after the American people voted Republican Donald J. Trump into the White House, the country’s Electoral College on Monday confirmed the decision in a formal ballot.
Along with that, Vice President Mike Pence was confirmed in his position as well.
Congratulations to @RealDonaldTrump; officially elected President of the United States today by the Electoral College!— Mike Pence (@mike_pence) December 19, 2016
I’m honored & humbled to be officially elected today as the next Vice President of the United States of America by the Electoral College.— Mike Pence (@mike_pence) December 19, 2016
The 538 members of the Electoral College are really the ones who count when the decision is made on who enters the White House.
During the November 8 election, at the end of the day Trump won 306 of those votes – considerably more than the 270 he needed to beat his Democratic contender, Hillary Clinton.
This time around, for the final call, some of the GOP defected, and so did some of the Democrats.
According to the New York Times, two Republicans voted for someone other than Trump.
But they were neutralized by their Democratic opponents, who elected to cast their ballots for someone other than Clinton.
Some of the electors were “faithless” – that is, voted for someone other than the chosen nominees, and therefore their votes were discounted altogether and they had to be replaced.
Of the 306 electors pledged to Trump, 304 voted for him this time around. And of the 232 electors who had voted for Clinton on November 8, only 224 voted for her on during Monday’s ballot.
The figures echo an election in 1808, when six electors also voted for someone other than their party’s nominee.
