CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s five electors rocked no boats while using their constitutional authority to select as president Donald Trump, the candidate for whom 68 percent of West Virginians cast their votes.
Gathered today in a ceremony at the state Capitol, electors Bill Cole, the outgoing state Senate president; Attorney General Patrick Morrisey; newly-elected Secretary of State Mac Warner; banker and unsuccessful Treasurer candidate Ann Urling; and incoming Putnam County Commissioner Ron Foster all signed documents selecting Trump.
#WV #electors sign their ‘Ballots of Ascertainment” All for #Trump pic.twitter.com/X1B3H1bmsz
— Brad McElhinny (@BradMcElhinny) December 19, 2016
A handful of protesters held up signs outside the ceremony, and a few quietly expressed their displeasure inside the House of Delegates chamber where the ceremony took place.
Electoral College gatherings across the nation were getting more attention than usual because of Hillary Clinton’s win in the popular vote but the expectation that Trump would win the Electoral College unless there would be mass defections of “faithless electors.”
Warner said he received and read thousands of messages asking for him to switch his vote.
“I opened every piece. Read it. I’d say 30 percent were all one form letter, so you didn’t really have to go through all. Another third were kind of a takeoff or spinoff of the form letter. But about a third were actually individually written with some thought behind it. It was interesting to read, to see democracy at work, the people participating, the vim and vigor of some of the people.
“I like to read. I’m a lawyer. I see two sides of issues. I want to hear what the other side is saying. But the people of West Virginia have clearly spoken for Donald Trump. So an elector’s job is to reflect the will of the people as well as their own personal conscience. In this case, those two converged. So it was not a difficult decision for me at all.”
Urling said she scrutinized Trump but came to believe he was still the best choice for a variety of reasons.
“If you stay out of the weeds and look at what I consider to be the big issues, which is Supreme Court justice, national security, our $19 trillion in debt, I think Donald Trump was the best candidate.”
A handful of protesters felt differently. The protests began on the Capitol steps, but protesters made their way inside and greeted the electors and other observers with signs.
One was Laura Garcia, who came from Wood County with her husband, Rodney Wilson.
“I was hoping to dissuade them from their vote. Knew it was a longshot but felt it was important to take a stand,” Garcia said. “I feel there were still many questions. I was sorry electors could not have information released to them so they could make another decision.”
West Virginia’s electors represented a slate first nominated by their party at its state convention and then selected by the majority of the votes for president.
Morrisey was selected as a statewide officer and the rest were endorsed by Republicans in West Virginia’s congressional delegation: Senator Shelley Moore Capito vouched for Urling,Congressman David McKinley suggested Warner, Congressman Evan Jenkins touted Cole and Congressman Alex Mooney proposed Foster.
The slate was then affirmed by the West Virginia Republican convention committee.
Each signed a “Certificate of Vote” to make their votes official.
The events began with the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Anthem and an invocation. Some students were on hand to describe the history of Electoral College.
The Electoral College came about as a compromise by founding fathers who wanted a vote of Congress to select the president and those who wanted a popular vote. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 votes is required to elect the president.
West Virginia gets five electors because that’s its number of elected members of Congress. Other electoral votes are also apportioned that way: one for each member in the House of Representatives and then two for the U.S. Senate.
The meeting of electors takes place on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December after the presidential election.
Electors meet in their respective states, where they cast their votes for president and vice president on separate ballots. Each state’s “Certificates of Vote” are sent to Congress and to the National Archives, where they become official records.
Certificates of Votes are counted in Congress on Jan. 8. The President of the Senate, currently Vice President Joe Biden, presides over the count and announces the results.
The Presidential Inauguration is Jan. 20.
A citizen in the back has a differing opinion #electors pic.twitter.com/wypmeDDA4D
— Brad McElhinny (@BradMcElhinny) December 19, 2016