On December 19, 2016, the members of the Electoral College cast their ballots, and despite all the pleas to abide by the popular vote, the protests, recounts, and allegations of hacking by the Russians, Donald Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States.
There remains one final hurdle. On January 6, Congress has to certify the Electoral College’s votes. Any member of Congress can object to the electoral vote count, but in order to do so, he or she must have the support of a member of the other house. In other words, if a member of the House of Representatives objects to the electoral vote count, then he or she must find someone in the Senate to support his or her objection (and vice versa). If one member of both the House of Representatives and the Senate do raise an object, then Congress will debate the matter. Afterwards, Congress will then vote on whether or not to accept or reject one or more of the electoral votes. Congressional rejection of any electoral votes has rarely taken place, and is unlikely to occur for this election cycle, even if someone in Congress does try to voice their objection. Then, on January 20, 2017, Donald Trump will be sworn in as President.
Now I will give my summary of the election.
Many liberals are shocked as to why the Donald won. There are several reasons. First, many people were upset over the direction the country was going, and knew Hillary Clinton would continue to lead America in the wrong direction. Second, they took note of Hillary’s scandals, and possibly remember her husband’s scandals. Third, Trump was an outsider, a businessman, and was well-known long before the Clintons came onto the national scene. Finally, Hillary Clinton and her supporters were so confident of victory (partly due to portraying Trump as sexist and racist) that they practically underestimated the Trump campaign and the will of the American people (especially those living outside of the big cities), thus ignoring the first rule of warfare, which is never underestimate your enemy.
Many liberals despise the Electoral College, especially since Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Donald Trump won the Electoral vote. Obama even criticized the Electoral College, referring it to an outdated vision from America’s Founding Fathers. But if liberals want to get rid of the Electoral College, then they need to get a constitutional amendment passed (an unlikely scenario).
In reference to the recount efforts introduced by the Green Party, they have backfired since the recounts have actually resulted in Trump gaining more votes. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone did their own private recount only to discover that Trump would still have won if all the votes were counted (which is what happened in the aftermath of the 2000 Presidential Election). Meanwhile, it has been determined that the alleged hacking by the Russians has had no impact on the outcome of the election.
So the liberals need to quit whining, protesting, and pleading.
photo credit: Gage Skidmore Donald Trump sign via photopin (license)
