North Carolina casts its Electoral College votes for Trump, signing off on a formality
North Carolina’s members of the Electoral College met and cast their votes for President Donald Trump on Monday, the same day as electors across the rest of the United States in an election year unlike any in modern history.
Everyone in the old House chamber at the state Capitol building in downtown Raleigh wore masks. Only electors, staff and a few press were allowed in the chamber, which has been full in ceremonies of years’ past. The mood on the dreary December day was formal and solemn. Instead of live performances, the national anthem was cast on screens in the room, sung by Jerenae Raeford of JR Performance Studios. 4-H leaders led the Pledge of Allegiance, also remotely.
N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley swore in the electors. They were each given their own pen and Bible courtesy of the state Supreme Court.
It was yet another sign of how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed traditions along with the daily lives of all North Carolinians. The state is under a modified stay-at-home order and has other statewide restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. At the same time, thousands of vaccines to squash the coronavirus pandemic are arriving in all 50 states in the coming days.
When you vote for a presidential ticket, you’re actually voting for an elector to vote for the president and vice president. In North Carolina, more voters chose incumbent Republican Trump, so that’s who gets the 15 votes cast by electors. Trump received 2,758,773 votes, or 49.93%. Democrat Joe Biden received 2,684,292 votes, or 48.59%, according to the State Board of Elections results.
Much attention has turned to the Electoral College in the wake of Trump’s nationwide election loss and failed attempts to overturn it, but it’s just part of a process.
By late afternoon, after California cast its 55 votes, Biden was confirmed officially as the president-elect. He received 306 votes altogether, surpassing the 270 benchmark needed to win.
Trump, who received 232 votes, hasn’t conceded to Biden.
With the election of Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, Harris will be the first woman, Black and Indian-American vice president in the United States.
State law requires electors to cast their votes for the candidate chosen by the people — if they don’t want to, they are simply replaced with an alternate elector.
Each party on the presidential ballot has a list of electors in waiting. With North Carolina going for Trump, Republicans’ list of 15 electors and two alternates are the ones who vote. The electors were chosen at the state Republican Party convention earlier this year.
In North Carolina, the secretary of state is in charge of the Electoral College. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall said this year’s ceremony would be a little different due to coronavirus restrictions in place, with limits on the number of people in the room and the mask requirement.
By state law, the vote is held in the old House chamber at the Capitol building in downtown Raleigh. The state legislature convenes at the Legislative Building a block away, but the Capitol is still used for offices, tours and ceremonies such as this.
Marshall presided over the ceremony until electors elected their officers, who then took over the rest of the meeting. Mark Delk was elected president of the Electoral College. He and several of the electors wore masks supporting Trump. Some of them dressed in red. Marshall, a Democrat, wore blue. Daniel Bradford Barry was elected secretary. Susan Mills became the president teller, who tallies the votes, and Angie Cutlip the vice president teller.
Michael Whatley, an elector alternate and chair of the state Republican Party, made the official nomination of Trump for president before they cast their ballots for Trump, and of Mike Pence for vice president.
After the votes came another virtual performance: video of the Broughton High School Choir singing “God Bless America” and other songs in 2019. After that, there were no speeches, just Delk offering thanks to those involved with the ceremony.
Marshall, too, thanked everyone involved, and the work of North Carolina for the 2020 presidential election was finished.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Domecast politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 1:11 PM.