While November 8^th was the central day for voters this political year, December 19^th was the day which officially decided the presidential results. Under the U.S. Constitution, the president and vice-president are selected by a group of people known as electors, in the electoral college. Each state gets a number of electors equal to its representation in both chambers of congress. When a presidential candidate wins a plurality of the vote in a state, the slate of electors for the candidate’s slate become the electors for that state. On the first Monday after the second Wednesday of December (December 19^th this year), the electors meet in their state capitals to cast their votes for president and vice president. In order for a person to become president/vice-president, they must receive a numerical majority of electoral votes (greater than half, which in this case is at least 270 votes). Through this activity, the nation’s president and vice-president are officially selected.

Going into the electoral college there was already an indication of how it was likely to turn out. As said, the electors for a state are the slate designated by the candidate who won a plurality in state’s presidential vote. The parties of the candidates usually select party loyalists as electors, which tends to leave little chance of an elector voting otherwise. But, under federal law there is no legal requirement for elector to vote for the person who won their state. Some states have legal requirements for electors to vote for the state’s winner, or impose fines on faithless electors. Overall, it is possible for electors to vote for other people for president/vice-president.

As a result of the November 8^th election, Donald Trump/Mike Pence had won in enough states to get 306 Republican electors. Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine had won in enough states to ret 232 Democratic electors. No other candidates won in any states, and thus no other candidates came into with a slate of electors. Though given the circumstances of this year’s election, and the high degree of unfavorability for both candidates their was significant possibility of seeing a higher than average number of faithless electors in this year’s electoral college. There were some who had hoped to convince a large enough number of Republican electors to defect in order to prevent Donald Trump from receiving the required number of votes to become president, and thus trigger constitutional provisions which would push the decision to the house of representatives. This notion was a long shot attempt, and as the results would show, did not succeed.

Donald Trump was elected by the electoral college as president and Mike Pence as vice-president.

For the presidential vote, Donald Trump received 304 electoral votes, and Hillary Clinton received 227 votes. Seven electors ended up conclusively casting votes for other people. The electors which defected from their slated candidate included two Republican electors from Texas, four Democrat electors from Washington state, and 1 Democrat elector from Hawaii. One Republican elector voted for John Kasich (Ohio governor and Republican presidential primary candidate) and the other voted for Ron Paul (former Republican Congressman from Texas and 1988 Libertarian Party candidate for president). Three Democrat electors from Washington voted for Colin Power (former general and secretary of state under George W. Bush), and the fourth one voted for Faith Spotted Eagle (Native American activist). The one Democrat elector from Hawaii voted for Bernie Sanders (Vermont senator and 2016 Democratic primary candidate for president). There were a couple other electors who had attempted to vote for others, but they were either removed, legally blocked by state laws, or dissuaded from doing so.

For the vice-presidential vote, Mike Pence received 304/5 votes, and Tim Kaine received 227 votes. The Hawaii Democrat elector who had voted for Bernie Sanders voted for Elizabeth Warren (consumer advocate and Massachusetts Senator). One of the Washington electors who had voted for Colin Powell, voted for Elizabeth Warren as well. The other Washington electors who had voted for Colin Powell, voted for Maria Cantwell (former Washington congressman) and Susan Collins (Maine senator). The Washington elector who had voted for Faith Spotted Eagle had voted for Winona LaDuke (Environmental activist and green Party associate). One Republican elector in Texas voted for Carly Fiorina.

While the electoral college results are largely similar in their expected outcomes, it is surprising in the high degree of electors voting for people other than their slated candidate. This is the largest number of faithless electors for president since 1808. In this sense, it is one last example of the issues which have been going on in this year’s election; one in which there has been a great dislike for both main figures and a complex series of divisions.