Trump wins US Electoral College vote despite Republican detractors

Austin, Texas

REPUBLICAN Donald Trump prevailed in US Electoral College voting on Monday to officially win election as the next president, easily dashing a long-shot push by a small movement of detractors to try to block him from gaining the White House.

Mr Trump, who is set to take office on Jan 20, garnered more than the 270 electoral votes required to win, even as at least half a dozen US electors broke with tradition to vote against their own state's directives, the largest number of "faithless electors" seen in more than a century.

The Electoral College vote is normally a formality, but took on extra prominence this year after a group of Democratic activists sought to persuade Republicans to cross lines and vote for …