Monday was a historic day in America when designated electors from all 50 U.S. States and the District of Columbia cast their votes for president and vice president of the United States in one of the steps our constitution outlines in a process designed years ago to protect the will of the people.
There are 538 total electors. The slate representing the winner of the popular vote in each state becomes that state’s “Electors.” They then cast their vote on December 14. This starts the process that results in the official selection and inauguration of the new president on January 20th.
No doubt the Electoral College method which is outlined in the U. S. Constitution is bulky, somewhat out of date calling for a paper record of each state’s votes be delivered in person rather than electronically, but it is the system prescribed by our constitution and will remain our system until the U.S. Constitution is duly amended.
Monday was refreshing for me because the day-long process represented our democracy alive and working.
You might remember several months ago I referenced a book titled “On Tyranny.” This book warns that history tells us – as citizens of the United States – that democracies are not necessarily immune to overthrow.
The book suggested:
We might be tempted to think out democratic heritage automatically protects us …. Americans today are no wiser than Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism in the twentieth century.
Maybe this history lesson does not concern you, but it scared me, especially as our free and open election process has been challenged repeatedly by the person most responsible for defending it.
This becomes even more serious when a large number of the President’s supporters took up his imaginary issue without evidence of anything out of the ordinary in the election.
Donald Trump appointed judge Stephanos Bibas stated in response to a suit filed in Pennsylvania: Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.
When some call for the succession of their states from the union simply because they lost we see a threat to our democracy could be real!
For these reasons the orderly manner in which the voting by the Electoral College was completed on Monday gave me hope our democracy is safe, at least for now.
God Bless America, I’m Steve Sauder
