MAINE-———
A ‘faithless elector’ from Maine explains why he decided to vote for Sen. Bernie Sanders. “I am not a Clinton elector, I am a Democratic elector,” he said. Elector David Bright said that knowing Clinton would lose, he was “left to find a positive statement to make today.”
There’s no penalty under Maine law to punish someone for doing this.
His vote was eventually ruled to be “improper” and recast for Hillary Clinton.
MINNESOTA-———
For all the anticipatory rhetoric about a potential wave of Electors refusing to endorse Trump, it may come as a surprise that the first “faithless elector” to emerge in Monday’s Electoral College vote was in Minnesota has refused to vote not for Trump but for Hillary Clinton.
As the Hill reports, Muhammad Abdurrahman, a former Bernie Sanders delegate to the Democratic National Convention, attempted to vote for no candidate, according to The Associated Press’s Kyle Potter.
Abdurrahman’s vote was declared invalid and an alternate elector was appointed, allowing the state to go ahead and deliver its 10 electoral votes for Hillary Clinton.
Many liberals have protested Donald Trump’s presidential election victory, calling on Republican electors to refuse to back Trump. Instead, the day’s first “faithless elector” is a DemocraT.