Five-hundred-and-thirty-eight electors are meeting in all 50 states to confirm the election of Donald Trump in what should be a formality. However, this is 2016, so nothing is straightforward.
The day has finally come. After a tumultuous election season, the 538 individuals who make up the electoral college are gathering Monday to officially cast their ballots and confirm Donald Trump as the next commander-in-chief. Electors generally vote for the candidate who won the popular vote in their respective states on Nov. 8.
At least, that's what we think will happen.
Lucas Jackson / Reuters
However, because it's 2016, things aren't that simple. The lead up to this year's vote has been rockier than ever, including some electors resigning, protesters urging electors to vote against the popular vote, and failed presidential candidate Jill Stein's failed recount efforts in three states. If you want to know more about how the electoral college works, read this explainer, or watch the following video filmed before election day by drunk Brits back in November.
(Note: because this was filmed before the election it doesn't contain actual results, and includes a segment about what to look out for on election night. Some of these things did not happen IRL.)
On Nov. 8, Donald Trump won 306 electoral votes to Hillary Clinton's 232, taking him above the threshold of 270 required for him to become president.
However, because Clinton won the popular vote by more than 2.8 million votes, and because some have accused Trump of being unqualified to be president, a protest movement begging electors to vote for any candidate other than Trump has been increasingly vocal.
Other efforts to put obstacles in the way of Trump becoming president — such as Jill Stein's attempted crowdfunded recounts in three states — fizzled out with little-to-no impact.
Mark Makela / Getty Images
Electors who do not vote as their state voted are known as "faithless electors".
Anti-Trump protesters, citing Alexander Hamilton, have argued that the electoral college was created precisely to prevent unqualified figures from taking office, and have encouraged electors in red states to defy their electorate by bombarding them with thousands of emails and phone calls. This does not seem to have worked and most electors have just found it really annoying.
To change the outcome of the election, a total of 37 Republican electors would have to flip their votes to someone other than Trump.
While it is highly unlikely that that many would change their votes, a handful of so-called 'Hamilton Electors', such as Texas GOP elector Chris Suprun (pictured above), may vote for a different candidate. Other electors have resigned rather than vote for Trump.
Some Democratic electors in states where the law requires them to vote for the winner, have launched legal challenges to those laws in a bid to convince their peers not to vote for Trump. These efforts have mostly been unsuccessful.
Zach Gibson / AFP / Getty Images
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