NEW ORLEANS — Members of the Electoral College met Monday in state capitals across the country to cast their votes and finalize the 2020 election process.
In Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s eight presidential electors cast their votes for Donald Trump.
Members of the Electoral College almost always vote for the state winner.
Trump won in Louisiana by an overwhelming margin.
“We commend the historic work of President Donald Trump and we proudly cast our votes for him,” Louisiana elector Woody Jenkins said.
Democrat Joe Biden won 306 electoral votes during the November election to 232 for Trump. It takes 270 votes to be elected.
The Electoral College gave Joe Biden a majority of its votes later that same day, confirming his victory in last month’s election. In Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — the six battleground states that Biden won and Trump contested — electors gave Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris their votes.
Louisiana republican leaders including Congressman Steve Scalise and U.S. Senator John Kennedy have not publicly accepted the Biden victory.
Speaking on FOX News Sunday, Scalise said he will continue supporting efforts challenging the election results.
“There will be a president sworn in on January 20, but let’s let this legal process play out,” Scalise said. “Joe Biden has been going through a transition that even President Trump supported while he’s following what the court allows. There are challenges that are allowed.”
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy is the only top republican in the state who admits Biden won.
Speaking Sunday on CNN State of the Union, Cassidy said its obvious Biden is the president-elect.
“If we are a nation of laws and this is the constitution and this is the law and this is how it breaks out and the courts have ruled, then President Biden is going to be our next president,” Cassidy said.
WWL-TV Political Analyst Clancy Dubos said failing to accept the results of the presidential race, plays into people fears about the election process.
“There are unfortunately millions of Americans who are buying into this fantasy that somehow Trump won the election and they’re angry,” DuBos said. “Stoking that anger is a very dangerous thing. It leads to civil unrest. It leads to violence. This violence isn’t coming from the left, it’s coming from the right.”
DuBos added, it shouldn’t be hard for people to say that Biden won the election.
“It’s a fact. It’s time for people to put aside political fantasies and this false notion of loyalty. The loyalty should be to the constitution and to the rule of law and to the peaceful transfer of power.”
Monday, Louisiana electors sent a proclamation to Donald Trump, noting his accomplishments as president.
The Electoral College was the product of compromise during the drafting of the constitution.
A compromise between those who favored electing the president by popular vote and those who opposed giving the people the power to directly choose their leader.
Each state gets a number of electors equal to its total number of seats in Congress.
In Louisiana there are 8 electors representing the 6 house districts and 2 senators.
The Electoral College vote will be sent to Washington and tallied during a January 6 joint session of Congress.
There have been five elections in which the president did not win the popular vote. The most recent example was in 2016 when Donald Trump won.
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