Washington's voters chose Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016, so the state appointed the Democratic Party's nominees as its electors.1 Four of its 12 electors voted for someone else for president: three for Colin Powell and one for Faith Spotted Eagle.2 According to the Supreme Court's later account, the three Powell electors, Peter Chiafalo, Levi Guerra and Esther John, hoped to persuade electors in states Trump had carried to follow them and send the election to the House of Representatives.3
Washington required electors to pledge to vote for their party's nominee, and at the time the penalty for breaking that pledge was a civil fine of up to $1,000.4 The state fined the three Powell electors $1,000 each.5 They challenged the fines, arguing that the Constitution lets electors vote however they please, but Washington's courts upheld the fines.6
On July 6, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Chiafalo v. Washington that a state may enforce an elector's pledge to support the party's nominee and the state voters' choice.7 The Court said the faithless votes, as such votes are commonly called, cast across the nation in 2016 were the most in a century.8 Washington has since repealed the fine and now enforces pledges by removing and replacing electors who break them.9
Maine distributes its electoral votes proportionally by Congressional district, with two at-large electors representing the statewide winning presidential and vice presidential candidates and one elector each representing the winners from its two Congressional districts. For the first time since adopting this system, Maine's four electoral votes were split between the two major party tickets.
There were faithless votes cast for president and vice president in Hawaii, Texas, and Washington.
National Archives, Electoral College results for 2016, archives.gov, read October 3, 2026. Quoted as published.
Sources for each sentence
Each numbered entry quotes the words that support that sentence, as they appear on the linked page.
- Back to sentence 1
Washington’s voters chose Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump for President. The State thus appointed as its electors the nominees of the Washington State Democratic
supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-465_i425.pdf - Back to sentence 2
Due to faithless voting, the electoral votes for Washington were: for President, Clinton 8, Colin Powell 3, and Faith Spotted Eagle 1
archives.gov/electoral-college/2016 - Back to sentence 3
Peter Chiafalo, Levi Guerra, and Esther John (the Electors). All three pledged to support Hillary Clinton in the
supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-465_i425.pdf The three hoped they could encourage other electors—particularly those from States Donald Trump had carried—to follow their example.
supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-465_i425.pdf The idea was to deprive him of a majority of electoral votes and throw the election into the House of Representatives.
supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-465_i425.pdf - Back to sentence 4
And the elector must comply with that pledge, or else face a sanction. At the time relevant here, the punishment was a civil fine of up to $1,000.
supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-465_i425.pdf - Back to sentence 5
In response, the State fined the Electors $1,000 apiece for breaking their pledges to support the same candidate its voters had.
supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-465_i425.pdf - Back to sentence 6
The Electors challenged their fines in state court, arguing that the Constitution gives members of the Electoral College the right to vote however they please.
supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-465_i425.pdf The Washington Superior Court rejected that claim, and the State Supreme Court affirmed,
supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-465_i425.pdf - Back to sentence 7
Argued May 13, 2020—Decided July 6, 2020
supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-465_i425.pdf Held: A State may enforce an elector’s pledge to support his party’s nominee—and the state voters’ choice—for President.
supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-465_i425.pdf - Back to sentence 8
across the Nation cast faithless votes—the most in a century, but well short of the goal.
supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-465_i425.pdf - Back to sentence 9
Since the events in this case, Washington has repealed the fine. It now enforces pledges only by removing and replacing faithless electors.
supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-465_i425.pdf
Sources checked on October 3, 2026
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