Democrats Poised To Cast Electoral College Votes, But Not All Back The System

By Ken Coleman - December 5, 2020

Helen Moore, a retired state social worker, said that she is honored to serve as an official state presidential elector and looks forward to the Dec. 14 meeting in Lansing — but she hopes it is the last such gathering.

“Why can’t we just accept the vote as it is?” said Moore, who would prefer presidents be picked by the popular vote.

Moore, who was voted to serve by her 13th Congressional District Democratic organization colleagues, painfully recalls that former Democratic presidential nominees Al Gore and Hillary Clinton both won more votes than GOP candidates George W. Bush and Donald Trump, in 2000 and 2016, respectively. Bush and Trump, however, secured more Electoral College votes and won the presidency those years.

To be elected president, a candidate must receive at least 270 of the 538 electoral votes cast nationwide.

AP: Democrat Joe Biden wins the presidency

This year, Democratic President-elect Joe Biden won the popular vote by more than 7 million and has 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232.

The Electoral College process has come under fire by many leaders and experts in recent years. More than 60% of Americans want to change the way we elect presidents, according to a recent Gallup poll.

The Electoral College, which was written into the U.S. Constitution in 1787, is composed of 538 people from across the nation who represent the 50 states and District of Columbia. It exists largely because Constitution framers did not want a nationwide vote to determine the president and for slave-owning states to be disadvantaged.

Electors are chosen and cast a vote for president and vice president. In most cases, they meet at the state Capitol. Michigan has 16 electors, which match the number of senators and U.S. House members it has on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

In Michigan, presidential nominees from the Democrat and Republican parties submit a list of 16 qualified electors to the Secretary of State’s office. The state has a winner-take-all system like 47 other states — whoever wins the popular vote statewide takes all 16 electoral votes.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Nov. 24 signed Certificates of Ascertainment recognizing Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris selection of electors after the bipartisan Board of State Canvassers certified the election on Nov. 23.

State canvassers certify Mich. election results during lengthy meeting

If no candidate receives 270 electoral votes, the final decision is made by the U.S. House of Representatives. Only two American presidents have been chosen by the U.S. House because they lacked enough Electoral College votes. In 1800, Thomas Jefferson and, in 1824, John Quincy Adams both took office after the election was sent to the House of Representatives.

Unlike in 2000 and 2016, Chris Cracchiolo, Grand Traverse Democratic Party chair, notes that the number of popular votes that Biden received and the number of Electoral College he has been designated are compatible. He will represent the state’s 1st Congressional District as an elector.

“I believe that the Electoral College went along with the popular vote,” Cracchiolo said.

The Michigan electors are:

• 1st District: Chris Cracchiolo, a Williamsburg resident and business development director for J. Allan Reynolds, a telecommunications firm based in Farmington Hills
• 2nd District: Tim Smith, a Grand Haven resident and Michigan Education Association official
• 3rd District: Blake Mazurek, a Grand Rapids teacher
• 4th District: Bonnie Lauria, a West Branch retired auto worker
• 5th District: Bobbie Walton, a Davison retired government worker
• 6th District: Mark Miller, Kalamazoo Township clerk
• 7th District: Connor Wood, Jackson County Democratic Party chair
• 8th District: Robin Smith, a Lansing school librarian
• 9th District: Walt Herzig, a Ferndale resident and U.S. Rep. Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Twp.) district director
• 10th District: Carolyn Holley, a Port Huron retired finance worker
• 11th District: Susan Nichols, a Northville attorney
• 12th District: Steven Rzeppa, Trenton mayor and political and communications director for AFSCME Council 25
• 13th District: Helen Moore, a Detroit education activist
• 14th District: Michael Kerwin, a Detroit retired auto worker
• At-large: Marseille Allen, a Flint Township resident and a state probation officer
• At-large: Chuck Browning, a Bloomfield Hills resident and UAW Region 1A director