Pennsylvania Electors Unanimously Vote for Donald Trump
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It’s official.
For weeks, Pennsylvania’s electors were reportedly plagued by emails, phone calls and letters from people begging them not to do exactly what they did today – vote for Donald Trump.
The state’s 20 electors voted unanimously for the president-elect today, securing his win in the Commonwealth, where many – including Green Party candidate Jill Stein – sought to challenge it.
Stein had filed two lawsuits asking for a recount in Pennsylvania. The first was filed with the state and tossed when the campaign refused to pay a $1 million bond. The second, which was filed in federal court, was dismissed by a judge last week. Both times, Stein’s campaign had speculated that voting machines in the state could have been tampered with or hacked on Election Day. The federal case was dropped largely because Stein had failed to cite specific evidence.
Trump beat Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania by just 44,000 votes, or by about .75 percent, according to the latest numbers. If that margin were within .5 percent, a recount would be automatic.
Nationwide, Clinton won the popularity contest by almost 3 million votes – but Trump has secured 306 electoral votes, including Pennsylvania’s, which will give him the win. The election has prompted many to question the process and the existence of the electoral college, and in Pennsylvania, electors told NewsWorks that they’ve been bombarded by all kinds of mail since the election, penned by people begging them not to vote for Trump.
One elector, Gloria Lee Snover, the GOP chair of Northampton County, told the news organization that she “got bags and bags of mail. I’ve got more mail than Santa.”
Elector Carolyn “Bunny” Welsh of Chester County told NewsWorks that she’s received about 60,000 emails in her personal and office accounts and that “the latest ones are accusing me of being involved with the Russians.”
In a last-ditch effort to sway electors, more than 200 protestors reportedly gathered at the state Capitol in Harrisburg today. According to the Los Angeles Times, police escorted away about half a dozen protestors who had blocked a road.
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