Maine Elector Says He's Switching His Vote From Clinton to Sanders
Many were wondering if Republican electors would switch from Trump.
— -- Much attention is being paid to Republican electors who may switch their votes from Donald Trump, but there may be defectors on the Democratic side as well.
David Bright, an elector in Maine who was expected to vote for Hillary Clinton, tried to switch his vote in favor of Bernie Sanders but was overruled.
His attempt to cast his first vote for Sanders was ruled out of order by the Electoral College president, and then Bright cast his second ballot for Clinton. That was accepted.
His attempt to change his vote goes against state laws, but unlike in other states, there is no financial penalty for the move.
"If my vote today could have helped Secretary Clinton win the presidency, I would have voted for her. But as the Electoral College meets all across this nation on this day, I see no likelihood of 38 Republican electors defecting from their party and casting their ballots for Secretary Clinton. So Hillary Clinton will not become president, and there is nothing I can do about that. Knowing this, I was left to find a positive statement I could make with my vote," Bright wrote in a statement he posted on his Facebook account. He later read the statement at the electoral vote.
He continued, "I am not a Clinton elector, I am a Democratic elector. I do not represent Democrats all over the country, I represent the Democrats in Maine," he wrote.
"I cast my vote for Bernie Sanders not out of spite, or malice, or anger, or as an act of civil disobedience. I mean no disrespect to our nominee. I cast my vote to represent thousands of Democratic Maine voters – many less than a third my age – who came into Maine politics for the first time this year because of Bernie Sanders."
There was another elector, Muhammad Abdurrahman from Minnesota, who was replaced after making it clear that he would not be voting for Clinton even though she won the state. Such a move goes against state laws, the Minnesota secretary of state's office confirmed. It is not clear who Abdurrahman tried to vote for instead of Clinton.
In spite of these two attempts and another reported attempt in Colorado, Clinton has not lost any electoral votes so far.
Before electors began meeting this morning, ABC News had identified only one pledged to Trump who said he was not going to vote for the president-elect.
That elector, Chris Suprun from Texas, on ABC News' "Nightline" this week, referred to the Russian hacking and said he was "concerned when a foreign government intrudes on our elections."