At 7:49 PM EST  the final count was confirmed: Donald Trump has 304 votes; Hillary Clinton has 227 votes; 7 votes went to others. Donald’s Trump victory was confirmed at 5.30pm EST

UPDATE: 5.30pm EST Its official, Donald Trump has surpassed the required 270 votes. 36 of 38 Texas electors voted for Trump. 

One voted for Ron Paul and another for John Kasich.

Latest news confirm that Donald Trump has surpassed the 270 electors vote required to become the 45th president of the United States.

UPDATE: 4.44pm EST: Trump is two votes away from away from being elected president of the United States. Sofar Trump has not lost a single Elector’s vote. Hillary Clinton has lost 4 Electoral votes. 

As of 4.20pm ET,  electoral college voting has been finalized in “at least 43 states, with 259 votes for Donald J. Trump and 115 for Hillary Clinton.” (NYT, December 19, 2016). 

UPDATE: 5.26PM EST. Texas will be reporting votes within the next few minutes, which will confirm Trump’s 270 required votes. At the moment, prior to the Texas results, Trump has 268 votes.

UPDATE: The latest figures at 4.30pm EST:  Donald Trump has 265 votes; Hillary Clinton has 160 votes. There are 109 votes pending. It’s not yet official but these results suggest a Trump win of the College Vote.

UPDATE: Dec 19, 2016 4:44 PM EST  Montana has cast 3 votes for Donald Trump.

Soft Protests

US news media report protest movements of several hundred in several state capitals urging College Electors not to vote for Trump. No significant mass movements took place. No shift in votes has occurred in relation to Trump.

The propaganda “fake news” campaign led by the mainstream media (with the support of Obama and CIA Director John Brennan) portraying Trump as a Russian agent has failed dismally.

The NYT acknowledges that:

 Despite calls for electors to defy the voters in states carried by Mr. Trump, the only signs of “faithless” electors have been in states that Mrs. Clinton won. (NYT, December 19, 2016)

The most pernicious “hate news” attack on Trump was on NBC’s Saturday Night Live which intimated that if Donald Trump becomes president, “he will  kill us all”. 

According to the reports:

There were many protesters but few faithless electors as Donald Trump appeared to cruise toward 270 votes in the Electoral College on Monday — ensuring he will become America’s 45th president.

Even one of Trump’s fiercest Republican rivals, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, said it was time to get behind the president-elect.

In Madison, Wisconsin, protesters shouted, cried and sang “Silent Night.” In Augusta, Maine, they banged on drums and held signs that said, “Don’t let Putin Pick Our President,” referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But despite the noise outside state Capitols, inside, the voting went pretty much as planned.

With more than 30 states reporting, neither Trump nor Hillary Clinton had lost a single elector.

….

Republican electors have been deluged with emails, phone calls and letters urging them not to support Trump. Many of the emails are part of coordinated campaigns.

Some [democrats] have also tried to dissuade Trump voters by arguing that he is unsuited to the job. Others cite the CIA’s assessment that Russia engaged in computer hacking to sway the election in favor of the Republican. (ABC news)

Follow Global Research for updates.

UPDATES (Courtesy kiro7.com)

1. Dec 19, 2016 4:44 PM EST  Montana has cast 3 votes for Donald Trump. He is two Electoral votes away from being elected president of the United States.
2.  Dec 19, 2016 4:36 PM EST  From the Associated Press: “A couple of hundred protesters are gathering outside the California state Capitol ahead of Monday’s Electoral College meeting.”
3.  Dec 19, 2016 4:30 PM EST  The count: Donald Trump has 265 votes; Hillary Clinton has 160 votes. There are 109 votes pending.
4.  Dec 19, 2016 4:25 PM EST  Iowa cast 6 votes for Donald Trump.
5.  Dec 19, 2016 4:12 PM EST  From The Associated Press: “Democrat Hillary Clinton received eight votes, former Secretary of State Colin Powell got three, and Faith Spotted Eagle, an elder in the Yankton Dakota tribe, got one. Clinton won the state’s popular vote.”
6.  Dec 19, 2016 4:10 PM EST  Prior to the vote of the last handful of states — Texas included — the only faithless electors have been Democrats.
7.  Dec 19, 2016 4:08 PM EST  Massachusetts cast 11 votes for Hillary Clinton.
8.  Dec. 19, 2016 4:05 PM EST  Iowa, Montana and Nevada began voting at 4 p.m. ET.
9.  Dec 19, 2016 3:59 PM EST  Alaska has cast 3 votes for Donald Trump.
10.  Dec 19, 2016 3:49 PM EST The count: Donald Trump has 256 Electoral votes; Hillary Clinton has 135 votes. There are 143 votes pending.
11.  Dec 19, 2016 3:46 PM EST New Jersey cast 14 votes for Hillary Clinton.
12.  Dec 19, 2016 3:47 PM EST Four Democratic voters in Washington chose not to vote for Hillary Clinton, becoming “faithless” voters. Clinton took the other 8 votes in the state. Three Democratic electors have tried to be “faithless” by not voting for Clinton. One in Maine, one in Minnesota and one in Colorado. Those votes were changed and registered for Clinton.
13.  Dec 19, 2016 3:42 PM EST  Colorado has cast 9 votes for Hillary Clinton.
14.  Dec 19, 2016 3:29 PM EST  Nebraska electors cast 5 votes for Donald Trump.
15.  Dec 19, 2016 3:22 PM EST  Missouri has cast 10 votes for Donald Trump.
16.  Dec 19, 2016 3:10 PM EST  The Maine elector who voted for Bernie Sanders has his vote ruled “improper.” He has switched the vote to Clinton.
17.  Dec 19, 2016 3:03 PM EST  Voting began at 3 p.m. in Alaska, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, Texas and Washington.
18.  Dec 19, 2016 2:50 PM EST  The Second District of Maine cast 3 votes for Hillary Clinton. The First District of Maine cast 1 vote for Donald Trump.
19.  Dec 19, 2016 2:48 PM EST  The count: Donald Trump has 240 Electoral votes; Hillary Clinton has 115. There are 183 pending.