As Hawaii’s four electors gathered in a small room inside the state Capitol to cast their ballots Monday, the expectation was that all votes for president and vice president of the United States would go to Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Tim Kaine.
Three of them did. Clinton won the state on Election Day, Nov. 8.
David Mulinix voted instead for Bernie Sanders, who overwhelming won the Hawaii Democratic Party’s presidential preference poll. For vice president he cast his ballot for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
Mulinix, who described himself as a longtime political activist and progressive, said that he didn’t feel that Clinton was qualified, noting her military policies in the Middle East and in Libya. He told reporters after the vote that “Democrats, the DNC, the Clinton campaign and the media colluded to make sure that Hillary got the nomination.”
“They rigged the primary and they stole it,” he said. “They robbed us and the millennials know it. That is why they didn’t come to vote.”
State law requires that electors vote for the party nominee who won the state.
Chief Election Officer Scott Nago said that there are no penalties within the Hawaii statute for not voting for the party nominee. He said that it would be
up to the Democratic Party to decide whether Mulinix should be disciplined in any way.
About 50 demonstrators gathered along Beretania Street in front of the state Capitol before the electors cast their votes.
They held signs that read, “Defend Democracy, Dump Trump,” “Build Bridges, Not Walls,” “Honor the Popular Vote” and “In Mourning for Our Country” as passing motorists beeped their horns in support or heckled them to show their allegiance to President-elect Donald Trump.
The rally, which began at 11 a.m., was part of an ultimately unsuccessful national movement among Trump opponents to try to persuade enough Republican electors to cast their vote for someone other than Trump and deny him the necessary 270 electoral votes needed to become president.
“I would love to see Hillary Clinton be given the Electoral College vote, but I would be equally happy to see anything that gets Trump under 270,” said Jennifer Lane.
Clinton won the popular vote by a margin of almost
3 million votes, marking the fifth time in history that a candidate won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College. Demonstrations on Monday were meant in part to pressure government to reform the voting process so that it aligns with the popular vote.
Hawaii’s rally was among demonstrations organized at state capitals throughout the country, but by 12:30 p.m. Trump had secured the necessary 270 electoral votes, dashing the hopes of Trump opponents that there would be a revolt among Republican electors.
“It is one of the saddest days in history. It’s scary,” said Christine Lee after learning of Trump’s electoral victory. She flew over from Hawaii island for the protest.
Shortly after securing the electoral vote Monday, Trump took to Twitter to thank supporters and criticize the media.
“We did it! Thank you to all of my great supporters, we just officially won the election (despite all of the distorted and inaccurate media),” he tweeted.
In the end only two of the 306 electors pledged to Trump voted for someone else. One elector in Texas voted for Ron Paul, while another Texas elector voted for John Kasich, according to The New York Times’ vote tracker.
Clinton had more “faithless electors” than Trump, including the one from Hawaii, for a total of five.
