Utah cast its six Electoral College votes for President-elect Donald Trump today in a rowdy ceremony interrupted by shouts and chants from protesters.
Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox oversaw the noon ceremony at the Capitol, attended by Utah’s six Electoral College members, school children and several dozen protesters holding signs opposing Trump.
Cox noted that the Electoral College vote doesn’t normally attract this much attention, but thanked the protesters for their passion and participation all the same.
Amid shouts of "No Trump!" the electors filled out their ballots and Cox read the results.
"We have the official ballots here under the great seal of the state of Utah. The voting was unanimous on both cases: six votes for Donald J. Trump—” Cox said before being drowned out by jeers.
A nationwide movement to convince red-state electors to ditch Trump failed on Monday, with just a few stray votes cast for other candidates.
Still, protester Cheryl Pace, who held up signs alongside her husband David, says their cause was a moral one.
“It doesn’t necessarily change the outcome, but the outcome isn’t what counts,” she says. “It’s how you live your life day to day, and what your conscience and character demand that you do.”
Weeks before the vote, all six of Utah’s electors made clear they had no intention of going rogue — despite hundreds of calls, emails and letters.
Kris Kimball from Holladay, Utah was a first-time elector and says she felt no hesitation despite some pushback.
“I understood that I wasn’t going to be a rogue or faithless delegate or anything like that,” she says. “I was very happy with the outcome of the election, so I was fine to reaffirm it today.”
By late afternoon, Trump reached the 270 electoral votes needed to make his victory official. And of the few defections that did happen, most were in states won by Hillary Clinton.
