Republican Donald Trump has sealed the presidency on December 19, after winning the Electoral College in the face of nationwide protests urging electors to vote for other candidates.

Many people had expected the protests to deprive Trump of the 270 votes which he needed to clinch the election.

Trump said in a statement, "This election represents a movement that millions of hard-working men and women all across the country stood behind and made possible," .

In Maryland, more than 100 people had protested against Trump on Monday at the State House in Annapolis, even though the state's 10 electors inside had been bound by law to cast their votes for Democrat Hillary Clinton. Clinton won the state in November with 60 percent of the vote.

Deborah Driver, 62 years old, a protest organizer siad, "We're here in solidarity with our brothers and sisters across the nation”.

The normally obscure gatherings of 538 electors at sites across the country has become a national news in recent weeks as anti-Trump activists sought to upend the election results.

Electors across the country had been barraged with emails, letters and phone calls. By early evening, more had defected from Clinton than from Trump.

Two electors, in Colorado and Minnesota, had attempted to vote for someone other than Clinton, who won their states, and had been replaced immediately with alternates who did vote for her

Several of Maryland's electors said that they have felt privileged to vote for the first female presidential nominee from one of the country's two major parties.

By Prakriti Neogi