OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - The state Supreme Court says the “faithless electors” who defied both a pledge they had made and the will of Washington voters by casting their Electoral College votes for candidates other than Hillary Clinton in 2016 can be fined $1,000, as state law stipulates.
Four of Washington’s 12 Democratic presidential electors voted for someone other than Clinton in 2016, who won the popular vote in Washington. Three voted for former Secretary of State Colin Powell and one for Faith Spotted Eagle, an activist in the fight against the Keystone XL Pipeline. All had signed pledges to support Clinton if she won the state’s vote.
The Seattle Times reports that state law at the time dictated a $1,000 fine for electors who defied the popular vote, but the four electors challenged the fine. A Thurston County Superior Court judge ruled in 2017 that the fines were permissible.
The state Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision Thursday, upheld that ruling.
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