US states are allowed to compel so-called electoral votes to vote for the presidential candidate who received the most votes in that state, the United States Supreme Court unanimously finds.
With that ruling, the Supreme Court agrees with the states of Washington and Colorado.
The President of the United States is not elected directly, but indirectly. Each state has a certain number of electoral votes.
The Electoral College out of a total of 538 electoral votes eventually elects the President.
The principle applies that the candidate who receives the most votes in a state will receive all the electors from that state.
However, some electors in Washington and Colorado, contrary to that principle, refused to vote for Hillary Clinton, who won the 2016 presidential election in those states.
Those electors were then punished by the states. The Supreme Court rules that these sentences are permissible.