Republican Donald Trump prevailed in Electoral College voting on Monday to officially win election as the next president, easily dashing long-shot hopes by a small movement of detractors to block him from gaining the White House.

Trump garnered more than the 270 electoral votes required to win, even as at least half a dozen U.S. electors broke with tradition to vote against their own state’s directives, the largest number of “faithless electors” seen in more than a century.

A core of Democratic activists around the country had hoped to convince Republicans to cross lines and vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who won the nationwide popular vote on Nov. 8.

In the end, however, more Democrats than Republicans split with their party. Four Democratic electors voted for someone other than Clinton, while two Republicans turned their backs on Trump.

Bret Chiafalo, 38, of Everett, Washington, was one of three electors from his state to vote for Colin Powell, a former Republican secretary of state, rather than Clinton, saying he believed Powell was better suited for the job than Trump.

The founding fathers “said the Electoral College was not to elect a demagogue, was not to elect someone influenced by foreign powers, was not to elect someone who is unfit for office. Trump fails on all three counts, unlike any candidate we’ve ever seen in American history,” Chiafalo said in an interview.

With nearly all votes counted, Trump had clinched 304 electoral votes to Clinton’s 224, according to an Associated Press tally of the voting by 538 electors across the country.

“I will work hard to unite our country and be the president of all Americans,” Trump said in a statement released by his transition team in response to the Electoral College outcome.

The Electoral College assigns each state electors equal to its number of representatives and senators in Congress. The District of Columbia also has three electoral votes.

When voters go to the polls to cast a ballot for president, they are actually choosing a presidential candidate’s preferred slate of electors for their state.</s>TOPSHOT - Suzanne Gould, 59, holds a sign during a demonstration against US President-elect Donald Trump outside the Colorado Capitol building on the eve of the Electoral College vote, in Denver, Colorado on December 18, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / Chris Schneider | Photo Credit: CHRIS SCHNEIDER

There were many protesters but few faithless electors as Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote on Monday, ensuring that the billionaire will become America’s 45th President.

An effort by anti-Trump forces to persuade Republican electors to abandon the President-elect came to practically nothing and the process unfolded largely according to its traditions. Mr. Trump’s polarising victory on November 8, 2016 and the fact Democrat Hillary Clinton had won the national popular vote had stirred an intense lobbying effort, but to no avail.

Even one of Mr. Trump’s fiercest Republican rivals, Ohio Governor John Kasich, said it was time to get behind the President-elect.

“We want unity, we want love,” Kasich said as Ohio’s electors voted to back Mr. Trump at a statehouse ceremony. Mr. Kasich refused to endorse or even vote for Mr. Trump in the election.

With several States still voting, Mr. Trump had 304 votes and Ms. Clinton had 169. It takes 270 Electoral College votes to win the presidency. Texas put Mr. Trump over the top, despite two Republican electors casting protest votes.

Befitting an election filled with acrimony, thousands of protesters converged on State capitols across the country Monday, urging Republican electors to abandon their party’s winning candidate.

More than 200 demonstrators braved freezing temperatures at Pennsylvania’s capitol, chanting, “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!” and “No treason, no Trump!”

In Madison, Wisconsin, protesters shouted, cried and sang “Silent Night”. In Augusta, Maine, they banged on drums and held signs that said, “Don’t let Putin Pick Our President,” referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Despite the noise outside State Capitols, inside, the voting went pretty much as planned.

In Nashville, Tennessee, one audience member tried to read out some Scripture before the ballots were cast, but was told he could not speak.

“We certainly appreciate the Scripture,” State Election Coordinator Mark Goins said from the podium. “The answer is no.”

With all Republican States reporting, Mr. Trump only lost the two electors in Texas. Ms. Clinton lost four electors in Washington State, three voted for former Secretary of State Colin Powell and one voted for Native American tribal leader Faith Spotted Eagle.

Several Democratic electors in other States tried to vote for protest candidates but they either changed their votes to Ms. Clinton or were replaced.

The Electoral College has 538 members, with the number allocated to each state based on how many representatives it has in the House plus one for each senator. The District of Columbia gets three, despite the fact that the home to Congress has no vote in Congress.</s>WASHINGTON — There were many protesters but few faithless electors as Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote Monday — ensuring that the billionaire will become America's 45th president.

An effort by anti-Trump forces to persuade Republican electors to abandon the president-elect came to practically nothing and the process unfolded largely according to its traditions. Trump's polarizing victory Nov. 8 and the fact Democrat Hillary Clinton had won the national popular vote had stirred an intense lobbying effort, but to no avail.

Even one of Trump's fiercest Republican rivals, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, said it was time to get behind the president-elect.

"We want unity, we want love," Kasich said as Ohio's electors voted to back Trump at a statehouse ceremony. Kasich refused to endorse or even vote for Trump in the election.

With several states still voting, Trump had 304 votes and Clinton had 169. It takes 270 Electoral College votes to win the presidency. Texas put Trump over the top, despite two Republican electors casting protest votes.

Befitting an election filled with acrimony, thousands of protesters converged on state capitols across the country Monday, urging Republican electors to abandon their party's winning candidate.

More than 200 demonstrators braved freezing temperatures at Pennsylvania's capitol, chanting, "No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!" and "No treason, no Trump!"

In Madison, Wisconsin, protesters shouted, cried and sang "Silent Night." In Augusta, Maine, they banged on drums and held signs that said, "Don't let Putin Pick Our President," referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Despite the noise outside state Capitols, inside, the voting went pretty much as planned.

In Nashville, Tennessee, one audience member tried to read out some Scripture before the ballots were cast, but was told he could not speak.

"We certainly appreciate the Scripture," State Election Coordinator Mark Goins said from the podium. "The answer is no."

With all Republican states reporting, Trump only lost the two electors in Texas. Clinton lost four electors in Washington state — three voted for former Secretary of State Colin Powell and one voted for Native American tribal leader Faith Spotted Eagle.

Several Democratic electors in other states tried to vote for protest candidates but they either changed their votes to Clinton or were replaced.

The Electoral College has 538 members, with the number allocated to each state based on how many representatives it has in the House plus one for each senator. The District of Columbia gets three, despite the fact that the home to Congress has no vote in Congress.

Republican electors were deluged with emails, phone calls and letters urging them not to support Trump. Many of the emails are part of coordinated campaigns.

"I, too, regret that you have been the subject of harassment by those who perhaps are not as dedicated to the proposition of what this body is supposed to do as they are agitated by the fact that the people didn't do what they wanted them to do," Deal told the state's 16 electors, who all voted for Trump.

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, elector Charlie Buckels reached out to Trump's opponents after the New York businessman got all of the state's eight votes.

"For those of you who wished it had gone another way, I thank you for being here," said Buckels, the state GOP finance chairman. "I thank you for your passion for our country."

There is no constitutional provision or federal law that requires electors to vote for the candidate who won their state — though some states require their electors to vote for the winning candidate.

Those laws, however, are rarely tested. More than 99 percent of electors through U.S. history have voted for the candidate who won their state. Of those who refused, none has ever been prosecuted, according to the National Archives.

Some Democrats have argued that the Electoral College is undemocratic because it gives more weight to less populated states. That is how Clinton, who got more than 2.8 million more votes nationwide, lost the election to Trump.

Some have also tried to dissuade Trump voters by arguing that he is unsuited to the job. Others cite the CIA's assessment that Russia engaged in computer hacking to sway the election in favor of the Republican.

"When the founders of our country created (the Electoral College) 200-plus years ago, they didn't have confidence in the average white man who had property, because that's who got to vote," said Shawn Terris, a Democratic elector from Ventura, California. "It just seems so undemocratic to me that people other than the voters get to choose who leads the country."

A joint session of Congress is scheduled for Jan. 6 to certify the results of the Electoral College vote, with Vice President Joe Biden presiding as president of the Senate. Once the result is certified, the winner — almost certainly Trump — will be sworn in on Jan. 20.</s>The President-elect Donald Trump has surpassed the necessary 270 votes in the Electoral College.

Trump cruised to victory in the Electoral College despite thousands of protesters who converged on state capitols across the country.

The Electoral College results will be officially certified on January 6 during a joint session of Congress.

Protesters called for electors to “vote your conscience” outside various state houses where each state’s November election results were being authenticated.

Around 5:30 p.m. EST on Monday, Trump reached his 270th Electoral College vote, according to the Associated Press. Texas put Trump past the threshold, with 36 of its 38 electors voting for him to reflect the results of the state’s November election results.

Two “faithless” electors in the Texas delegation voted for former Texas Congressman Ron Paul and Ohio Governor John Kasich, both Republicans.

Ahead of Monday’s vote, 306 electors were anticipated to vote for Trump, while the other 232 were pledged to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.</s>WASHINGTON — There were many protesters but few faithless electors as Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote Monday — ensuring that the billionaire will become America's 45th president.

An effort by anti-Trump forces to persuade Republican electors to abandon the president-elect came to practically nothing, and the process unfolded largely according to its traditions.

Even one of Trump's fiercest Republican rivals, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, said it was time to get behind the president-elect.

"We want unity, we want love," Kasich said as Ohio's electors voted to back Trump at a statehouse ceremony. Kasich refused to endorse or even vote for Trump in the election.

With several states still voting, Trump had 304 votes and Clinton had 169. It takes 270 Electoral College votes to win the presidency. Texas put Trump over the top, despite two Republican electors casting protest votes.

Thousands of protesters converged on state capitols across the country Monday, urging Republican electors to abandon their party's winning candidate.

More than 200 demonstrators braved freezing temperatures at Pennsylvania's capitol, chanting, "No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!" and "No treason, no Trump!"

In Madison, Wisc., protesters shouted, cried and sang "Silent Night." In Augusta, Maine, they banged on drums and held signs that said, "Don't let Putin Pick Our President," referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Despite the noise outside state Capitols, inside, the voting went pretty much as planned.

With all Republican states reporting, Trump only lost the two electors in Texas. Clinton lost four electors in Washington state — three voted for former Secretary of State Colin Powell and one voted for Native American tribal leader Faith Spotted Eagle.

Several Democratic electors in other states tried to vote for protest candidates but they either changed their votes to Clinton or were replaced.</s>Right Now: The Electoral College has affirmed Donald J. Trump as the nation’s 45th president, pushing him past the 270-vote threshold for election, with scant evidence of the anti-Trump revolt among electors that some of his critics had hoped would occur.

Republican electors in Texas vaulted Mr. Trump past the 270 mark, granting him all but two of their 38 ballots in a ceremony in the State Capitol in Austin.

In the House chamber, where the electors met, the vote was greeted with a standing ovation by citizens and Republican officials who had come to witness the event. Outside, perhaps 100 protesters waved placards and chanted “Save our democracy” in a vain effort to persuade electors to reject the Republican nominee.

Normally a political footnote, the electoral vote acquired an unexpected element of drama this winter after Mr. Trump’s upset of Hillary Clinton, who received 2.86 million more popular votes but won in states that totaled only 232 electoral votes. The states Mr. Trump won held 306 electoral votes.</s>WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Electoral College voting to legally elect the US president went off without any upsets on Monday, despite reports that many Republican electors would defect to deny President-elect Donald Trump a majority.



Surprisingly, it was Trump's Democrat rival Hillary Clinton who lost more votes Monday than that from Trump's ballot box.



Trump secured 304 votes, compared with 227 for Hillary.



In the presidential election held on November 8, Trump had won 306 electoral college votes against Hillary, who got 232 votes.



Eight Democratic electors attempted to vote against Clinton, but three of them were replaced by state election officials, raising doubts if their 'faithless' votes will count. 



Clinton had won the popular vote with a lead of more than 2.8 million votes.



To win the presidency, a candidate needs 270 electoral votes. 



On the eve of the vote, reports emerged that an anti-Trump electoral revolt could deny the President-elect a majority, for which at least 37 GOP electors needed to defect.



Just two of the 306 GOP electors, both from Texas, cast their vote against Trump defying a Republican National Committee whip.



'We just officially won the election despite all of the distorted and inaccurate media,' Trump said on Twitter.



On January 6, Congress will officially count the electoral votes presided over by Vice President Joe Biden, and the results are final.



The President-elect's inauguration is to take place on January 20.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX</s>WASHINGTON — Donald Trump started racking up electoral votes Monday even as anti-Trump protesters across the country tried to persuade the Electoral College to prevent him from winning the White House.

With about half the states reporting, neither Trump nor Democrat Hillary Clinton had lost any electors.

Trump had 154 votes and Clinton had 86. It takes 270 votes in the Electoral College to win the presidency. Electors were voting throughout the day and there was scant evidence many GOP electors would peel away from their Election Day winner. More than three dozen would have to abandon him to complicate his path to the presidency.

More than 200 demonstrators braved freezing temperatures at Pennsylvania’s capitol, chanting, “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!” and “No treason, no Trump!”

Protesters also gathered in Colorado, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, Texas, Nebraska and other states.

The protesters, however, were unlikely to persuade the Electoral College to dump Trump. An Associated Press survey of electors found very little appetite to vote for alternative candidates. Only one Republican said he would vote for someone else.

Republican electors have been deluged with emails, phone calls and letters urging them not to support Trump. Many of the emails are part of coordinated campaigns.

“The letters are actually quite sad,” said Lee Green, a Republican elector from North Carolina. “They are generally freaked out. They honestly believe the propaganda. They believe our nation is being taken over by a dark and malevolent force.”

Wirt A. Yerger Jr., a Republican elector in Mississippi, said, “I have gotten several thousand emails asking me not to vote for Trump. I threw them all away.”

A joint session of Congress is scheduled for Jan. 6 to certify the results of the Electoral College vote, with Vice President Joe Biden presiding as president of the Senate. Once the result is certified, the winner — almost certainly Trump — will be sworn in on Jan. 20.

The Electoral College was devised at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. It was a compromise between those who wanted popular elections for president and those who wanted no public input.

The Electoral College has 538 members, with the number allocated to each state based on how many representatives it has in the House plus one for each senator. The District of Columbia gets three, despite the fact that the home to Congress has no vote in Congress.

The AP tried to reach all of the electors and interviewed more than 330 of them, finding widespread aggravation among Democrats with the electoral process, but little expectation Trump would be derailed.

Some Democrats have argued that the Electoral College is undemocratic because it gives more weight to less populated states. That is how Clinton, who got more than 2.6 million more votes nationwide, lost the election to Trump. Some have also tried to dissuade Trump voters by arguing that he is unsuited to the job. Others cite the CIA’s assessment that Russia engaged in computer hacking to sway the election in favor of the Republican.

“When the founders of our country created (the Electoral College) 200-plus years ago, they didn’t have confidence in the average white man who had property, because that’s who got to vote,” said Shawn Terris, a Democratic elector from Ventura, California. “It just seems so undemocratic to me that people other than the voters get to choose who leads the country.”

There is no constitutional provision or federal law that requires electors to vote for the candidate who won their state. Some states require their electors to vote for the winning candidate, either by law or through signed pledges. But no elector has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote as pledged, according to the National Archives.

Those laws are rarely tested. More than 99 percent of electors through U.S. history have voted for the candidate who won their state.

Electors are selected by state parties, and so are often insiders who can be trusted to vote for the party’s candidate. Many Republican electors said they feel duty-bound to honor their pledge to vote for the candidate who won their state, regardless of how they feel about Trump.

Still, some anti-Trump activists have been getting creative in trying to persuade electors to dump Trump.

In addition to thousands of emails, Republican elector Charlie Buckels of Louisiana said he received a FedEx package with a 50-page document that the sender said “had absolute proof that the Russians hacked the elections.”

“From the tenor of these emails, you would think these people are curled up in a corner in a fetal position with a thumb in their mouth,” Buckels said.

Associated Press writers Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, Hope Yen in Washington, Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi, Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Juliet A. Williams in Sacramento, California contributed to this report.</s>TOPSHOT - Suzanne Gould, 59, holds a sign during a demonstration against US President-elect Donald Trump outside the Colorado Capitol building on the eve of the Electoral College vote, in Denver, Colorado on December 18, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / Chris Schneider | Photo Credit: CHRIS SCHNEIDER

Donald Trump started racking up electoral votes Monday even as anti-Trump protesters across the country tried to persuade the Electoral College to prevent him from winning the White House.

Mr. Trump didn’t lose any electors with votes counted in 10 States that he won Nov. 8 — Georgia, Kentucky, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Arkansas, South Carolina, Mississippi and Oklahoma.

Early results gave Mr. Trump 88 votes and Democrat Hillary Clinton, 43. It takes 270 votes in the Electoral College to win the presidency. Electors were voting throughout the day and there was scant evidence many GOP electors would peel away from their Election Day winner. More than three dozen would have to abandon him to complicate his path to the presidency.

More than 200 demonstrators braved freezing temperatures at Pennsylvania’s capitol, chanting, “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!” and “No treason, no Trump!”

Protesters also gathered in Colorado, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, Texas, Nebraska and other States.

The protesters, however, were unlikely to persuade the Electoral College to dump Mr. Trump. An Associated Press survey of electors found very little appetite to vote for alternative candidates. Only one Republican said he would vote for someone else.

A joint session of Congress is scheduled for Jan. 6 to certify the results of the Electoral College vote, with Vice President Joe Biden presiding as president of the Senate. Once the result is certified, the winner almost certainly Trump will be sworn in on Jan. 20. — AP</s>WASHINGTON — And you thought Election Day was in November.

Electors are set to gather in every state on Monday to formally elect Donald Trump president even as anti-Trump forces try one last time to deny him the White House.

Protests are planned for state capitals, but they are unlikely to persuade the Electoral College to dump Trump. An Associated Press survey of electors found very little appetite to vote for alternative candidates.

Republican electors say they have been deluged with emails, phone calls and letters urging them not to support Trump. Many of the emails are part of coordinated campaigns.

“The letters are actually quite sad,” said Lee Green, a Republican elector from North Carolina. “They are generally freaked out. They honestly believe the propaganda. They believe our nation is being taken over by a dark and malevolent force.”

Wirt A. Yerger Jr., a Republican elector in Mississippi, said, “I have gotten several thousand emails asking me not to vote for Trump. I threw them all away.”

A joint session of Congress is scheduled for Jan. 6 to certify the results of the Electoral College vote, with Vice President Joe Biden presiding as president of the Senate. Once the result is certified, the winner — likely Trump — will be sworn in on Jan. 20.

The Electoral College was devised at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. It was a compromise between those who wanted popular elections for president and those who wanted no public input.

The Electoral College has 538 members, with the number allocated to each state based on how many representatives it has in the House plus one for each senator. The District of Columbia gets three, despite the fact that the home to Congress has no vote in Congress.

To be elected president, the winner must get at least half plus one — or 270 electoral votes. Most states give all their electoral votes to whichever candidate wins that state’s popular vote. Maine and Nebraska award them by congressional district.

The AP tried to reach all of the electors and interviewed more than 330 of them, finding widespread aggravation among Democrats with the electoral process, but little expectation Trump would be derailed.

Some Democrats have argued that the Electoral College is undemocratic because it gives more weight to less populated states. That is how Hillary Clinton, who got more than 2.6 million more votes nationwide, lost the election to Trump. Some have also tried to dissuade Trump voters by arguing that he is unsuited to the job. Others cite the CIA’s assessment that Russia engaged in computer hacking to sway the election in favor of the Republican.
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“When the founders of our country created (the Electoral College) 200-plus years ago, they didn’t have confidence in the average white man who had property, because that’s who got to vote,” said Shawn Terris, a Democratic elector from Ventura, California. “It just seems so undemocratic to me that people other than the voters get to choose who leads the country.”

But despite the national group therapy session being conducted by some Democrats, only one Republican elector told the AP that he will not vote for Trump.

There is no constitutional provision or federal law that requires electors to vote for the candidate who won their state. Some states require their electors to vote for the winning candidate, either by law or through signed pledges. But no elector has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote as pledged, according to the National Archives.

Those laws are rarely tested. More than 99 percent of electors through U.S. history have voted for the candidate who won their state.

Electors are selected by state parties, and so are often insiders who can be trusted to vote for the party’s candidate. Many Republican electors said they feel duty-bound to honor their pledge to vote for the candidate who won their state, regardless of how they feel about Trump.

Still, some anti-Trump activists have been getting creative in trying to persuade electors to dump Trump.

In addition to thousands of emails, Republican elector Charlie Buckels of Louisiana said he received a FedEx package with a 50-page document that the sender said “had absolute proof that the Russians hacked the elections.”

“From the tenor of these emails, you would think these people are curled up in a corner in a fetal position with a thumb in their mouth,” Buckels said.

 ———

 Associated Press writers Hope Yen in Washington, Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi, Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Juliet A. Williams in Sacramento, California contributed to this report.
Amidst a concerted effort to persuade electors to choose another candidate, Donald Trump earns the required Electoral College votes to be selected as the next President of the United States.