Supreme Court Rules Washington Can Bind Faithless Electors

SEATTLE, WA — The Supreme Court unanimously ruled Monday that Washington can require its electors to vote for the winner of the state's popular vote.

Their ruling ends a long court battle for both Washington and Colorado which began back in 2016, when three of Washington's electors and one in Colorado refused to vote for Hillary Clinton, despite the fact that she won the presidential election's popular vote in both states. All four electors said their move was in an attempt to persuade other electors to do the same, and vote for someone other than Donald Trump to deny him the presidency.

In 2019 a Colorado appeals court ruled that those so-called "faithless electors" had the right to cast their votes as they choose, but the Supreme Court's new ruling reverses that decision: Monday's ruling means electors are now obligated to vote for the candidates that their states choose. In her majority opinion, Justice Elena Kagan wrote that states can instruct "electors that they have no ground for reversing the vote of millions of its citizens."

The decision was celebrated by lawmakers representing both Washington and Colorado.

"Today's unanimous decision by the United States Supreme Court reaffirms the fundamental right to vote of every American and ensures that when we cast a vote for President of the United States, our voices will be heard," Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement. "The will of a few unelected presidential electors should never supersede the will of the people, and today's landmark decision rightly protects Americans' right to vote and to self-governance."

As the Associated Press reports, faithless electors have never swayed the outcome of a presidential election, but could have in any race that hinged on just a few electoral votes. The closest they've come was in 2000, when George W. Bush received 271 votes from the Electoral College versus 266 votes for Al Gore. In that race, one elector from Washington D.C. refused to cast a vote. It takes 270 votes to win the presidency.

Prior to Monday's ruling 32 states and the District of Columbia already had laws on the books requiring electors to vote for the state's popular vote winners— rules which have now been reaffirmed by the justices' ruling.

"Today, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously affirmed that the States, and the States alone, have the exclusive authority to appoint and, if necessary, remove presidential electors when they violate their pledges," Weiser said.

Patch staffer Amber Fisher and the Associated Press contributed to this report.