RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginia’s 13 members of the Electoral College unanimously cast their votes Monday for Hillary Clinton, a show of support for the Democratic candidate on the same day Republican electors in other states were expected to officially elect Donald Trump president.
Although Clinton, who won the statewide vote in November, also won the popular vote by 2.6 million votes, Trump was poised to win 306 of the 538 electoral votes under the state-by-state distribution of electors used to choose presidents. Electors in all 50 states and the District of Columbia were meeting Monday.
Susan Johnston Rowland of Chesapeake, who was selected as president of Virginia’s electors, addressed the group before they voted.
“I share your disappointment and concern in the outcome of this election,” Rowland said.
Time will show that Virginia’s electors - who were bound to vote for Clinton - were on “the right side of history,” she added.
Usually a ceremonial step in the road to the presidency, this year’s meeting of the Electoral College has drawn intense scrutiny. GOP electors have been inundated with emails, phone calls and letters urging them to vote against Trump. And protests were planned in state capitals across the country Monday.
Those efforts, however, were unlikely to persuade the Electoral College to change course. An Associated Press survey of electors found very little appetite to vote for alternative candidates. Only one Republican elector told the AP that he will not vote for Trump.
In Richmond, dozens of demonstrators gathered in the cold outside the Capitol building on Monday morning ahead of the electors’ meeting.
Around 60 people held signs that said “respect my vote” and “say no to bigotry.” They sang “This Land is Your Land” and chanted, “You have a choice - raise your voice.”
Virginia, like most states, has a “winner-take-all” system that awards all electors to the statewide presidential winner. Electors here are required to vote for the party’s national convention nominee - Clinton, in this case.
Many of the electors called it an honor to vote for Clinton as they cast their ballot. One elector appeared to be moved to tears.
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