Washington state electors cast their ballots for Biden, Harris
Washington state’s 12 electors met in Olympia Monday and cast their ballots for Joseph R. Biden as the next president of the United States and Kamala D. Harris as vice president, confirming the will of the voting public.
Electors across the country fulfilled their duties Monday, with Washington’s sitting socially distant and masked in the state Senate Chambers mid-day. Public attendance wasn’t allowed due to COVID-19, but the ceremony was broadcast live via TVW.
What’s typically a formality took on the weight of some significance in the face of an outgoing president who has not conceded, the Associated Press reports, instead clinging to unsupported allegations of fraud.
Remarks from Republican Secretary of State Kim Wyman and Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, who both were re-elected in November, underscored the moment.
“2020 is a year unlike any we’ve ever known,” Wyman said. “Despite a global pandemic that has changed our lives in ways we could not have ever imagined and amid social unrest and protest, we oversaw one of the most exciting and impassioned elections in recent memory.”
Washington state saw its second-highest turnout percentage in November, with over 84 percent of its nearly 4.9 million voters casting ballots. A record number of voters participated. Wyman thanked voters and local election officials, explained the Electoral College process, and at times became emotional during her remarks.
“While some people continue to call into question the outcome of this election, average citizens from all walks of life will step up today to exercise their responsibility to perform their constitutional duty to the best of their ability and cast their ballot for president and vice president of the United States of America,” Wyman said.
When speaking of Monday’s ceremony bringing the 2020 General Election to a close, she quipped “Thank God.”
In his remarks, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said the electors played a particularly “pivotal role” this year, saying democracy has been under attack and calling out the President and those who’ve supported his recent efforts to call election results into question.
“There has been an unprecedented attack on the very foundations of democracy in our nation recently, and you are standing against that,” Inslee said.
Biden is expected to claim 306 electoral votes to President Donald Trump’s 232, according to AP. It takes 270 votes to be elected. There had been concerns about the safety of electors, AP reports, and legislative offices in Michigan closed Monday over threats of violence.
J.T. Wilcox, Minority Leader in the Washington state House of Representatives, implored a stop to threats on Twitter just ahead of Washington’s ceremony.
“Horrific threats are being made to elections staff all over the country including WA,” the tweet reads. “Including pictures, scope crosshairs, and home addresses. We have to stop this. I support the work of Kim Wyman and her staff and believe in the results of the election in our state.”
Electors shared their thoughts on the role they fulfilled Monday. Elector Jack Arends was overcome by emotion while sharing that he has a terminal illness and wanted to do this while he still could.
“I was glad to do my duty and rid our nation of a petty dictator. Had he won a second term, there is no limit to the damage he could’ve done to the world,” Arends said. “It will be up to others to do the hard work of rebuilding our nation, as my health is failing.”
Patricia Whitefoot of White Swan, a member of Yakama Nation, said she was there as a representative of her ancestors.
“We’re at a crossroads today, and it’s up to each and every one of us to pull ourselves together and bring our children along, our families along, as we continue to make life better in society,” Whitefoot said.
As the daughter of a Japanese mother and African-American father, Sophia Danenberg said she was “so, so proud” to vote for Kamala Harris, “who will be making history as the first woman, the first African American, and the first Asian vice president of the United States.”
She was also among the electors who voiced a desire to see the elimination of the electoral college system, in part laying out that the process “was created over 200 years ago, to deal with complexities that no longer exist and was upheld to give power to slave-owners” who would’ve considered her three-fifths of a person.
Across the U.S., a total of 538 electors cast votes on the top-two leadership positions. Each state has one elector per lawmaker it sends to the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate — Washington sends two senators and 10 representatives, so has 12 electors.
Political parties choose their electors, and voters are actually choosing the slate of electors that will represent Washington state when they vote in the General Election — the Secretary of State’s website features a more in-depth overview of the electoral college process.
Electors pledge, winner-take-all style, to support the nominee who receives the majority of the popular vote in the General Election. In Washington state, President-elect Joseph R. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala D. Harris received nearly 58 percent of votes statewide in 2020.
Electors’ ballots are sent to Congress, which will hold a joint session Jan. 6 to count the votes and announce the results.
The ceremony received unique attention in Washington state in 2016, when four members of the Electoral College here cast their votes for a candidate who wasn’t on General Election ballots rather than the state’s popular vote winner, Hillary Clinton.
For three electors, it was a long shot effort to convince Republican members of the Electoral College in other states to block President Donald Trump from getting the votes he needed to win, according to previous reporting from The News Tribune. The fourth was motivated by discontent with Clinton.
Three “faithless electors” fought $1,000 fines to the Supreme Court, which found that states can punish or replace faithless electors in a unanimous decision earlier this year.
Under a law passed by the state legislature in 2019, an elector who leaves their ballot blank casts a vote inconsistent with their pledge would vacate their role and be replaced.
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 1:57 PM.
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