US President-elect Trump clears last hurdle winning 307 electoral votes
20 Dec 2016
Republican Donald Trump on Monday prevailed over his detractors, cruising past the 270 votes in the US Electoral College voting to officially confirm his election as the 45th President of the United States.
Trump secured 307 electoral votes against his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton's 227 votes, formally becoming US President-elect.
However, at least half a dozen US electors broke with tradition to vote against their own state's directives, as a small group of legislators opposed to Trump's policies tried to block him from entering the White House.
Nearly 11 weeks after his upset victory over the Democrat Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump will succeed Barack Obama on 20 January 2017, becoming the 45th President of the United States.
An effort by anti-Trump forces to persuade Republican electors to abandon the President-elect came to naught and the process unfolded largely according to its traditions.
Even Trump's fiercest Republican rival, Ohio Governor John Kasich, is reported to have got behind the President-elect.
"We want unity, we want love," Kasich said as Ohio's electors voted to back Trump at a statehouse ceremony, an AP report stated.
Trump's election campaign only helped to polarise American electorate, especially among the new migrants and descendents of early migrants.
Also, Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton, who was widely expected to win the elections, had won the national popular vote.
Although Hawaii is still to vote, Trump has already won 304 votes against the 270 needed for a win in the Electoral College.
Trump lost two votes in Texas where one voted for Kasich, the Ohio governor, while the other voted for former Texas Representative Ron Paul.
Clinton lost four electors in Washington state three voted for former Secretary of State Colin Powell and one voted for Native American tribal leader Faith Spotted Eagle.
Several Democratic electors in other states tried to vote for protest candidates but they either changed their votes to Clinton or were replaced.
The Electoral College has 538 members, with the number allocated to each state based on how many representatives it has in the House plus one for each senator.
Trump thanked voters for the overwhelming support.
