US Electoral College: Largest number of electors break ranks despite Donald Trump victory

Electoral College vote saw largest number of ‘faithless electors’ in over a century with Hillary Clinton suffering biggest losses

Picture: (Getty)

President-elect Donald Trump sailed past the 270 mark on Monday in the Electoral College vote to secure his position as the next President of the United States, but the vote itself saw the largest number of electors break ranks in more than a century.

Monday’s Electoral College vote recorded a total of seven “faithless electors”, with Hillary Clinton suffering the biggest number of protest votes. Mr Trump won 304 votes on Monday, only two less than the votes he claimed on Election Day, while Mrs Clinton lost five electors to protest votes, taking her total down to 227.

The Electoral College vote is usually seen as a formality but it was given added attention this year due to Mrs Clinton having won the popular vote by more than 2.8 million, the weeks of lobbying, and a day of protests in cities across Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Maine.

Mr Trump lost two votes in Texas, where one elector voted for Ohio Governor John Kasich and the other voted for former Texas Representative Ron Paul.

Mrs Clinton lost four electors in Washington state, where three votes went to former Republican secretary of state Colin Powell and one went to Native American tribal leader Faith Spotted Eagle. In Hawaii, one elector voted for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

"We did it!" Mr Trump tweeted Monday evening. "Thank you to all of my great supporters, we just officially won the election (despite all of the distorted and inaccurate media)."

He later issued a statement saying: "With this historic step we can look forward to the bright future ahead. I will work hard to unite our country and be the President of all Americans."

Additional reporting by agencies