Protesters rally outside the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix Monday in hopes of persuading the state's 11 electors not to cast their vote for President-elect Donald Trump. (AP/Matt York)
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Under threat of ‘faithless electors,’ Electoral College voting gets underway
December 19, 2016
States around the U.S. have begun casting their Electoral College votes today, as electors meet at state capitols to officially choose the next president.
According to the results of November's presidential election, Republican Donald Trump should be chosen, after racking up 306 of the 538 electoral votes distributed across the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The Electoral College system, which has been in place since 1789, requires 270 electoral votes for victory.
As of 1:10 p.m., Trump stood at 134 electoral votes, Hillary Clinton had 43 and Bernie Sanders had one, according to the Associated Press.
Electors in the Electoral College are bound by the decision of their individual states when they cast their electoral votes — but it is possible for them to change their votes and become "faithless electors."
But they're fighting an uphill battle — as many as 37 Republican electors would need to reject Trump to deny him the presidency and send the decision to the House of Representatives.
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