SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Dec. 19, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Despite 150 or so vocal anti-Trump protesters, Utah’s Electoral College on Monday cast its full six votes for President-elect Donald Trump.
After all was said and done, James Evans, Utah chairman of the Republican Party lingered at the Utah State Capitol, as did a few protesters.
“From my perspective, just pleased that all six of our electors voted for Trump and for Mike Pence,” Evans told Gephardt Daily. “We recognize that in America that everybody gets to protest if they choose. That’s in our First Amendment. So I think it went out well. Protesters got to have their say, now we’re moving on to making America great again.”
As of 2 p.m. Monday, Trump had easily won the Electoral College vote, surpassing the votes needed by 36.
In the November election, candidate Hillary Clinton won the popular vote for the presidency by more than 2.5 million, according to multiple media and government sources. That caused many commentators and members of the public to question whether the Electoral College is the best system for electing a president.
Evans said the Electoral College is America’s system, and Clinton lost.
“The political left did not win, so instead of having a narrative about why they lost, they just simply deflect on to what’s wrong with the system,” he said. “… and that’s what they did.”
The Electoral College has served us well, Evans said.
“To me, I think it was an honorable compromise to get this country moving. They (the nation’s founders) had several different options, and they settled on the Electoral College for electing a president, and I support it. It’s worked well for 240 years, so I’m in favor of it.
“It was the compromise to make it fair. That’s why we have exactly two senators per state, doesn’t matter the population of the state or the size of the state. It was all about making sure that our country can remain united so that as a president, you don’t have to focus on just three or four big states to get your popular vote. It forces you to have to work with all states.”
