Ohio's 18 Electors Select Donald Trump for President, Ignore Protesters

COLUMBUS, OH — Ohio electors have officially selected Donald Trump to be the president, confirming the 18 electoral college votes he won on Nov. 8. Electors made this decision despite a national swell of protests that urged Electoral College voters to abandon the president-elect.

Protesters marched outside the Statehouse in Columbus, where electors voted for the president at noon. The crowd chanted for the electors to abandon the state's pledged votes and write in anyone besides Trump.

Trump is the first president-elect in history to face such a revolt, and the number of “faithless electors” who aren’t expected to vote for him could be the greatest in history.

However, Ohio was never going to join the ranks of protest votes. State law dictates that electors must vote according to the party that chose them, and Trump's campaign selected all 18 of today's electors. Gov. John Kasich, who has frequently been named as an alternative candidate for electors, was present at the Statehouse for the voting. He discussed Abraham Lincoln and John Glenn.

"We want connection. We want neighbors. We want unity. We want love. The very strength of our country is encapsulated in those values and the values of those two men (Lincoln and Glenn)," Kasich said in a speech prior to the vote. "I look forward to this vote and the outcome of this vote."

Prior to the protesters or the electors gathering, there was a concerted letter-writing effort that stuffed the mailboxes of many would-be electors. Ralph King, from Ohio's 11th Congressional District, told WOSU that 40 letters arrived in his mailbox this weekend, all urging him to abandon his vote for Trump. All of the electors said prior to today's vote that they intended to vote for Trump.

Secretary of State Jon Husted joked that Ohio's 2016 electors likely received more mail than all of the state's previous electors combined.

“These unprecedented protests are making clear that Donald Trump lost the popular vote and has no mandate,” Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which is organizing some of the protests, said in a statement. “Regardless of how the Electoral College votes, these protests remind the political world that Trump does not represent the will of the people — and will embolden Democrats to fight Trump as he helps big international corporations at the expense of American workers.”

Robert Scott, a Trump campaign official, replaced Christina Hagan as one of Ohio's 18 electors. Stark County residents pointed out that Hagan would have to resign her position in the Ohio State Assembly to cast a ballot as an elector. Hagan stepped down at the last minute to avoid the conflict.

"We are here despite those seeking to unhinge a Constitutional process that is tried and true," Hagan said to the electors prior to the vote.

While Trump may have lost the nation's popular vote, he cruised to a victory in Ohio, carrying 80 of Ohio's 88 counties. His margin of victory was the largest in the Buckeye State since 1988 for a presidential candidate.

Image Credit: Rick Uldricks/Patch