Trump officially takes Electoral College vote as President

Any uncertainty about Donald Trump’s status as President-elect was erased on Monday, as the Electoral College selected the Republican candidate as the next President of the United States.

Despite the presence of several faithless electors, Trump had been expected to get nearly all of the 306 votes pledged to him after the November 8, 2016 general election, with 270 votes needed to win. Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent, had 232 votes pledged to her on Election Day.

As the voting unfolded today, one Democratic elector in Maine switched his vote to Bernie Sanders. Later in the afternoon, the state ruled that action improper and he cast his vote for Clinton. Another elector in Texas was expected to pick Kasich instead of Trump. And one elector in Minnesota was replaced when he tried to not vote at all.

Protest electors in Colorado lost in court on Tuesday afternoon as they tried to win a state legal fight to cast their votes for another candidate. One faithless voter in Colorado was disqualified and replaced. And four electors in Washington state made protest votes in the Electoral College; three voted for Colin Powell and one voted for activist Faith Spotted Eagle.

The slate of Electoral College voters in Texas pushed Trump over the threshold needed for the Electoral College win. But the votes will not be officially confirmed until January 6, 2017, when a joint session of Congress counts the votes in public.

The voting in Texas was delayed by officials said four electors needed to be replaced. Three nominated electors in Texas were reportedly federal employees, which violated constitutional requirements for electors.