Three states punish faithless electors with fines whilst SC and New Mexico impose criminal charges.
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More than half of the states in the USA try to bind the votes of electors to the candidate their state chose but Texas is not one of them yet.
A Pew poll out earlier this month also indicated a partisan divide regarding knowledge of who won the popular vote, with 68 percent of Republican voters knowing that Clinton won the popular vote, compared with 81 percent of Democrats. How many electors an individual state has is equivalent to its number of representatives and senators in Congress.
Minnesota’s 10 Democratic electors were required by state law to vote for Clinton and vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine because the Democratic ticket carried the state in the November election.
A candidate must secure 270 votes to win. An AP survey of electors found very little appetite to vote for alternative candidates. “In California, she won by a landslide”.
This year’s Electoral College vote will come amidst what officials describe as a serious challenge to the legitimacy of the election process, including evidence of foreign intervention and influence. The first faithless elector came shortly after 2 pm, when a ME elector cast his vote for Sen.
“If Bernie Sanders had been elected, if John Kasich had been elected, if Ted Cruz had been elected, we would not be out here”.
This is our last moment to stop a Donald Trump presidency. In the Senate gallery, about 20 of them turned their backs after the electors cast their presidential ballots.
“I started it because I knew it was the only constitutional path left to stopping Donald Trump from assuming office”, he said during a protest at the state Capitol on Monday morning. One audience member tried to read out some Scripture before the ballots were cast, but was told he could not speak.
An even larger gathering is planned on the Capitol steps for Monday.
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Unite for America said it launched its effort in response to news that Russian Federation allegedly tried to intervene in the presidential election to tilt it towards Trump.
