By David Ammons
Office of Secretary of State communications director
Washington’s Electoral College made national news Monday, Dec. 19, when four “faithless” electors declined to vote for Hillary Clinton, who carried the state 54-38 over Donald Trump.
Eight electors cast ballots for Secretary Clinton, three votes went to former Republican Secretary of State Colin Powell and one elector voted for Faith Spotted Eagle, an activist opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline.
It was the first time Washington had a “faithless” elector since Mike Padden of Spokane Valley, now a state senator. He voted for Ronald Reagan in 1976, rather than Gerald Ford, who had carried the state that year. The Legislature quickly passed a law imposing a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for voting for someone other than the nominee.
Secretary of State Kim Wyman, the state’s chief elections officer, said she will enforce the statute. The Secretary of State office said she was conferring with the Attorney General on a process for levying the penalty. Wyman and Gov. Jay Inslee hosted the College.
It was the 32nd gathering of the Electoral College since statehood, and easily the most lively. A witness of the assembly four years ago said there were only a dozen people in the gallery. This time, however, with much attention on the process nationally, several hundred protesters rallied on the Capitol steps and in the Rotunda and filled every available seat in the State Reception Room where the College met.
The session, following a careful script provided by federal authorities, went smoothly with no outbursts or attempts to affect the electors. Each elector filled out a ballot for president, and a second one for vice president.
The votes were collected, counted and announced by Chair Julie Johnson from Neah Bay. She announced the eight votes for Clinton and then the votes for Powell and Spotted Eagle. The same process was used for vice president. Eight votes were announced for Clinton’s running mate, Tim Kaine; one apiece for his fellow senators Maria Cantwell, Susan Collins and Elizabeth Warren; and one for Winona LaDuke, a Native American environmental activist.
Reaction to the “faithless” votes was muted. Each elector was given a moment to talk about their votes. Several said they would work to replace the Electoral College with direct popular vote. Washington actually has signed up as one of 11 states in the National Popular Vote compact aimed at following the popular vote. That bill passed in 2009. More states would need to join, with collectively having a majority of the electoral votes, to trigger the law.
Electors Bret Chiafalo of Everett and Levi Guerra of Warden were active in the Hamilton Elector movement, urging their colleagues to vote for a Republican moderate and try to peel off GOP electors in other states. Their goal was to peel off enough votes to deny Trump an Electoral College majority. That did not happen.
Each state gets electors equal to the number of its U.S. senators and representatives. That’s currently 12 for Washington, the second largest bloc in the West. It takes 270 electoral votes to elect, and Trump went over that level on Monday, with Washington mentioned in national news coverage for its unusual votes, none of whom affected the president-elect’s tally.
