Sec. of State John Gale takes ballots from presidential electors (left to right) Phil Belin, Paul Burger, and Chuck Conrad as elector John Dinkel looks on.
Nebraska presidential electors shake off calls for them to break their pledge and give Republican Donald Trump the state’s five electoral votes.
A last minute plea from Nebraskans such as Elaine Wells to cast aside state law and cast their ballots for Democrat Hillary Clinton instead falls on deaf ears.
“I’m sick. I really am very concerned about the direction that this country will take under Donald Trump,” Wells tells Nebraska Radio Network after the presidential electors cast their votes during a ceremony in the Governor’s Hearing Room at the state Capitol.
Trump won Nebraska. Clinton made a play for the electoral vote in the Second Congressional District, but came up short. Nebraska is one of only two states which distribute electoral votes proportionally.
Elaine Wells of Omaha asks electors to break their pledge and vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump during public comment period.
All five electors follow the law and cast their ballots for Trump.
First Congressional District elector John Dinkel says rumors electors in other states planned on breaking their pledge prompted him to inquire.
“And I asked what would happen if somebody didn’t and then Nebraska state law, if you were here you heard what would happen; be vacated and the governor would appoint somebody that would vote for Trump,” according to Dinkel.
Dinkel and the other electors say they never considered changing their vote.
AUDIO: Brent Martin reports [:45]