Rhode Island electors cast 4 votes for Clinton

December 19, 2016 3:18 pm

By: Rebecca Turco

rturco@abc6.com

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Rhode Island’s four members of the U.S. Electoral College have cast their votes for Democrat Hillary Clinton.

With those votes came a motion asking Congress and the president-elect for an independent, bipartisan investigation into Russia’s reported meddling in the election.

"It’s not too late to have a bipartisan investigation so that the American public can have the facts and this kind of thing never happens again," said Rhode Island’s Electoral College President Clay Pell.

Clinton won the state’s popular vote by more than 15 percent over Republican Donald Trump.

Protesters carrying anti-Trump signs watched from the gallery as the vote occurred, and they and others cheered loudly when votes were cast for Clinton. Many of those protestors also stood outside the State House earlier in the day, urging Republican electors in other states to vote their conscience – and by that they meant not to vote for Donald Trump.

"I think Donald Trump is a dangerous man," said Kate Anderson of Wakefield. "He’s an ideologue. He’s a con man."

The voting ceremony had a somber air at times. "I know many of us are here today and this isn’t exactly how we hoped to be feeling today," said Governor Gina Raimondo at the podium. "But it is our duty to participate in this democracy and to participate in the peaceful transfer of power."

Rhode Island’s Honorary Trump Campaign Chair Joe Trillo was offended by this, arguing many Rhode Islanders are excited for a Trump presidency. "She’s throwing the rest of us under the bus when she says that," he explained.

Trillo has a warning for the governor: "If you and the United States senators and our Congresspeople keep knocking the Trump administration, I’m not going to be that optimistic that they’re going to be very good to us as a state."

All 538 members of the Electoral College met in their respective states Monday to formally elect Trump president.