UPDATE: One of Maine's electors did indeed vote for someone who was neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton. The ballot was ruled to be out-of-order. After a re-vote, three votes went to Clinton.
Votes are 1 for Donald Trump, 2 for Clinton and 1 for someone else. #mepolitics
— Chris Cousins (@Storytiller) December 19, 2016
Johnson rules the 4th ballot out of order and gives that elector a chance to re-cast vote. We are at ease. #mepolitics
— Chris Cousins (@Storytiller) December 19, 2016
And the second election:
New ballots: Three for Clinton, one for Trump. Bright switched over. #mepolitics
— Chris Cousins (@Storytiller) December 19, 2016
In the 2016 election, Maine had a historic first: it split its Electoral College votes. Donald Trump had an 11-point victory in Maine's 2nd congressional district but lost the state and the 1st congressional district, meaning that he won one electoral vote to Hillary Clinton's three.
Now, it appears as though Clinton will only walk away with two Electoral College votes from the Pine Tree State. One Democrat Elector, David Bright, has said that he will not vote for Clinton in today's vote. Instead, he'll be voting for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who handily won Maine's Democratic caucus in March.
Bright explained that he is casting his vote for Sanders to send a message to his multitude of young supporters in the state. He also elaborated that he's doing this because doing so would not change the overall outcome of the election.
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Bright says he’s voting for Sanders because he won Maine’s Democratic caucus and deserves at least one of Maine’s votes. He wrote that Sanders engaged many first time voters, and he wanted to support their grassroots efforts.
“They organized, telephoned and sent in their $27,” Bright wrote. “Many stood in line for hours in order to navigate our byzantine system of caucuses and convention this spring so they could be among the two thirds of Maine Democrats who cast a vote for Sanders. Most importantly, they did this to vote FOR someone they believed in, not to vote against someone they feared.”
Since Election Day, there has been a campaign to encourage Republican electors to change their votes from Donald Trump to somebody, anybody, else. I'm willing to bet Bright isn't exactly the type of "rogue elector" they anticipated.
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