On June 8, I posted an observation about things I used to trust. This is a sidebar of that post and is titled Your Voice/Your Vote (or What Ought vs What Is).
I used to trust that my vote counted in an election, and in most ways it still does, especially in local and statewide ones; however, the results of a few of the previous national elections and the attention garnered by the upcoming one stirs me enough to do my own research to see just what this whole “elector” thing is all about. In my 50 years of voting I thought I understood the process, but I was wrong, and for a short while, with all the current media hype I even thought I might not vote in the next Presidential election.
The national general election process for President and VP is almost two hundred and fifty years old. The foundation for the process is Constitutional, in Article Two, Section One, and defines “electors” and their roles. The dominant thought at the time was only the most knowledgeable and informed people (electors) would be allowed to choose who would become the President (a system, by the way, parallel to that used by the Roman Catholic Church to elect a new Pope, with the Cardinals being the only electors).
Additionally, there was a later concern the most populous sections of the new United States would dominate elections and be able to control the political sway of things nationally. So, part of the evolution of the elector process was to establish that the total number of electors would be one for each of two senators and one for each house representative. So, using Colorado as a modern-day example, for the 2024 election, we will have ten electors (two senators and eight representatives).
These electors, by the way CANNOT be the senators and representatives themselves, this is just the way to determine the numbers. Political parties get to choose their electors and most are typically important people within or about the party itself: State party leaders, business partners, top financial donors, and others from the Party elite. Some states put the electors on primary ballots so the voters can have a chance to approve them, while others choose their electors at party conventions. A few states have their home legislatures select electors. The point is each State separately gets to determine how its electors are chosen.
Now, when a party registers to get on the ballot, including those not affiliated as Republican or Democrat, it must submit its slate of electors and nominees for president and VP to each State Secretary. So, in theory, even those registered as Independent must have their own slate of electors and executive choices.
Right! What ought to be vs what really is. And this is one of the areas that make me question if my vote really counts.
In Colorado, as an Independent I get to vote in the Primaries, and I initially get both Red and Blue ballots, but I can only return one else I cancel out my own vote. Presumably, there are no Primaries for candidates registered as other than Republican or Democrat. Thus, at least in the first stage of voting, I am still pushed to the two dominant political factions, although I can still vote for whomever I please on the actual National election ballot regardless of how I vote in the primaries.
Another area in question is the “faithless elector,” i.e. one who does not vote according to obligation. Colorado and 47 other states require registered electors to post their individual votes for the winner of the popular vote in that state. In 2016, Hillary Clinton pulled the Colorado popular vote numbers and thus, the elector slate that should have been put forward would have been (at that time) nine electoral votes for the Democratic candidate. One of the pledged electors instead voted for John Kasich, but the Secretary of State invalidated and replaced this odd vote, and nine Colorado electoral votes went for Clinton after all. That same year there was a similar case in Washington State.
Several states have tried to impose rules and penalties on faithless electors. Some district courts have waffled, however, and ruled that electors are real people who can vote their conscience regardless of party affiliation or popular vote. The Supreme Court, though, eventually ruled that the purpose of the electoral college is to represent the will of the people as signified through the popular vote, and thus, electors cannot arbitrarily change their minds. But inconclusively, the Supreme Court left any penalties or adjustments to the voting process up to State authorities.
Now, in fairness to the research, there have been some 180 faithless electors in the entire history of our country, and none have affected the outcome of a presidential election.
So, in a quick lead-in to the electoral process as it applies to my popular vote, when I submit my ballot in Colorado Springs, I’m really telling ALL the electors of my state who I want to become President. Then, the mechanics of the actual physical voting process kick in and, with respect for absentee voters, especially military members, the full measure of counting ballots will not be finalized until later in November and potentially early December (which means on Election night when the newscasters start predicting outcomes they are also counting on the electors to come through as promised).
If the State popular vote indicates the winner to be Republican, then the Republican electors listed on the earlier submission to the Secretary of State will meet to vote on the first Monday after the second Wednesday of December. The electors then make and sign six certificates of vote which are sent along with certificates of ascertainment to the president of the US Senate (the sitting VP), the National Archivist, the state's secretary, and the chief judge of the closest US District Court.
The electoral certificates of all 538 National Electors are gathered and sealed in two boxes that simply divide the votes into groups of states in alphabetical order. The opening and counting of the electoral votes must take place in front of the full House of Representatives and the Senate. Objections to any vote must be raised at the time of the counting and dealt with before proceeding. All of this takes place on January 6.
Because of the length of all the aforementioned processes, the official Presidential inauguration is traditionally on January 20, unless that day is a Sunday, in which case it will be January 21.
You might see now where this observation is going. I no longer have my original belief that my vote will make a difference, especially in the national election. What I’m really doing is telling a stranger to represent me at the voting station and then hoping he or she will do so in good faith. The irony of this is that in actual practice of the rules of the electoral process, I could conceivably go to jail if I were caught voting in someone else's place.
What ought to be is different from what really is.
No, I won’t stop voting. Too many people have fought and died to ensure I have this right, but I may end up voting for someone outside of the two dominant parties although that won’t change the electoral outcome (at least not until an Independent Party gets large enough to become a majority). My fog of innocence is gone now that I understand the complexities of the electoral college, and my rose-colored voting glasses have cracks in them.
Best regards to all, and let’s be safe out there.
