Today on Ask Civics 101 we look into the electors- the 538 people who vote for our president on December 14th. Who can be an elector? How are they chosen? And what is it like to really vote for the president and vice president?
This episode stars Jessie Kratz, historian at the National Archives, and Marseille Allen, a certified elector from Flint, Michigan.
You can check out the many styles of certificates of ascertainment here!
Transcript
[00:00:00] Civics 101 is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
[00:00:04] Good afternoon and welcome. On this most August occasion, electors and guests, please find your seats.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:10] You're listening to Civics 101. I'm Nick Capodice.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:13] I'm Hannah McCarthy.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:14] And today we're talking about electors, the 538 individuals who vote on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December. This year that's December 14th. Because...
Jessie Kratz: [00:00:23] When you're casting your ballot for the presidential candidate, you're really selecting it for the slate of electors.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:30] This is Jesse Kratz, historian of the National Archives, the place responsible for administering the Electoral College.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:36] We've said it before and we'll say it again. When you vote for a president in November, you're not voting for the president. You're voting for a slate of electors.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:45] Every party before the election chooses that slate. The slate is a list of people who will cast their vote in mid-December, usually for the candidate who won the popular vote of that state.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:55] Ok, so let's use a small state as an example. New Hampshire has four electoral votes. [00:01:00] So before the election, each party chose four different people who would vote on December 14th.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:06] Yes, the office of the secretary of state in New Hampshire posted 12 names to their Web site for Democratic electors, four Republican and four libertarian. President elect Joe Biden won in New Hampshire. So those four Democrats will go to the state House on the 14th to cast their vote.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:22] Who gets to be an elector?
Nick Capodice: [00:01:23] Here's Jesse again.
Jessie Kratz: [00:01:24] So the Constitution contains very few provisions relating to the qualifications of electors. Basically, no senator or representative or person holding an office of trust or profit. That's basically no federal office holders, no political appointees, no federal judges. That's pretty much it. And this process varies from state to state. But in the most general terms, the parties nominate a slate of potential electors at their state party convention or their party's central committee chooses them. And they often choose somebody who, you know, is a party loyalist, somebody that [00:02:00] they want to recognize their service and dedication to the party. That might be a state elected official state party leader. It could be Bill Clinton if he was a private citizen at that time.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:09] Oh, that's right. I forgot. Bill Clinton in 2016 was an elector in New York and cast his vote for Hillary.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:14] Yeah, he did. In some states, you actually get to see the names of those electors on the ballot. So the bubble you fill in will say Donald Trump or Joe Biden. But below that, two different columns of names of who would actually cast that vote in December.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:28] Did the electors know they're going to be picked beforehand?
Nick Capodice: [00:02:31] Not always.
Marseille Allen: [00:02:32] I received a text message from a particular someone saying, hey, you want to be an elector? I said, absolutely, that would be great.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:41] Who's this?
Marseille Allen: [00:02:41] My name is Marseille Allen. I'm a lead agent with the Michigan Department of Corrections and a human rights activist. I was selected to be an at large elector for the state of Michigan 2020, and apparently I was selected right then and there at the convention.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:57] Michigan certified their results on November 23 [00:03:00] for Joe Biden. So Marseille will go to the State House on December 14th.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:05] Is this Marseille's first time being an elector?
Marseille Allen: [00:03:07] This is my first time. I mean, I am not an expert in history, but knowing the history of the Electoral College, I know that I am a part of a process that is extremely controversial but has determined presidents since the establishment of our country. And so it's an honor to be part of it. It's almost bittersweet. You know, the three fifths compromise was actually because of the Electoral College. People need to understand that my ancestors were not even considered a full human. So as an African-American woman who's voting for a woman of African and Indian descent to be vice president, of course, and Vice President elect Joe Biden, I wouldn't be surprised if I became emotional because of it.
Marseille Allen: [00:03:52] It is something that I haven't really come to terms with, but it's full circle from not being seen [00:04:00] as a full human being to actually determining who the president of this country is.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:06] That's electors for today. If you want to know who your own state's electors are, will have links to the National Archives with all that information on our website, Civics 101. Podcast Nhpr.org.
