The Minnesota Secretary of State has this description of the December 19 meeting of the electors in St. Paul. Unlike the Washington and Colorado Secretaries of State, the Minnesota Secretary of State did not give complete information about the meeting.
This news story reports that Muhammud Abdurrahman, who was duly elected by the voters on November 8, voted for Bernie Sanders. He was then told to leave the table at which electors sit. He complied, and his seat was taken by an alternate, who voted for Hillary Clinton.
The only clue in the Secretary of State’s press release that something unusual happened is at the bottom. The Secretary’s list of alternate electors is missing any entry for the fifth district. That is because it was the fifth district alternate who took the place of the original elector.
Under Minnesota law, Abdurrahman did not cast a vote. This created a vacancy. As noted in Minnesota’s certificate of ascertainment, electors may vacate their office prior to the completion of the meeting of electors. Minnesota promised to provide an amended certificate of ascertainment.
He was replaced by his alternate Jill Garcia, who became the elector for MN-5. Garcia was also elected by the voters on November 8, just in case Abdurrahman was unable or unwilling to perform his duties.
The vacancy in alternate for MN-5 was not filled. If there was an additional vacancy, it would have been filled from among the other remaining alternates.
At the end of the meeting, Jill Garcia was the elector for MN-5.
The news release is totally consistent with Minnesota law.