House lawmakers voted Thursday to clarify rules about how the state manages so-called “faithless electors” – in large part as a response to unprecedented disorder in the Electoral College during the 2016 election.
Members of the Electoral College – the body that ultimately chooses the President and Vice President of the United States – are generally chosen by the parties contesting an election, and they pledge to vote for the nominee who wins the popular vote in their state.
But once electors are chosen, they are free under federal law to break their pledge and vote for a different candidate. The 2016 election marked the first time in more than 100 years in which multiple electors broke their pledges, with five electors breaking their pledge to vote for Hillary Clinton and two breaking their pledge to vote for Donald Trump
While the votes of the so-called “faithless electors” didn’t change the outcome of the election, some state legislatures took the incident as an opportunity to shore up their states’ measures to ensure electors don’t break their pledges.
This week, Delaware’s House passed a bill that would end the practice of counting votes from faithless electors and create a clearer process for the Secretary of State to appoint replacement electors if necessary.
The bill passed with minimal debate, though eight House Republicans voted against the measure.
It now heads to Gov. Carney’s desk.
