Who are these people and how do they get elected?
By Beth Cubriel
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas The Electoral College meets next Monday December 19th to cast the official vote for the Office of President. This year that body has received more attention than any other time in my lifetime.
They have been inundated with mail phone calls emails and social media posts asking them to abandon their pledge to support their partys nominee all in an effort to keep Donald Trump from receiving the 270 Electoral College votes needed to become President.
In some states unfaithful electors would face jail time. Texas has no such consequences and one elector has already stated publicly that he will not cast his Electoral College vote for Donald Trump.
- What a great responsibility these electors have!
- Can they really deny the Presidency to the man who won on Election Night?
The answer is yes in theory. Which leads many to ask who are these people and how do they get elected?
One would think that because of the great responsibility given to each member that their selection would be careful and well-vetted. Only in some cases is this true.
Members of the Electoral College are selected at their respective partys state convention. The outcome of the statewide vote on Election Day determines which partys elected members will actually get to participate.
In Texas its the Republican Partys 38 electors one for each Congressional District (CD Electors) and one for each of Texass U.S. Senate positions (At Large Electors) - who will report for duty on Monday.
At
the Republican Party of Texas state convention last May delegates met in Congressional District (CD) caucuses to select one person from each CD to serve on the Electoral College. In the districts that have greater participation races for Electoral College positions can be competitive and are usually awarded to people who have served in volunteer capacity for many years.
Its an honor given to them by their grassroots peers for a job well done to grow the party. The same is true for the At-Large Electors who are selected by the conventions national nominations committee. In caucuses where Republicans are less active the position on the Electoral College is given to the one person who can be recruited to participate.
Because these selections as well as other state party leadership positions are made at the state convention its important for the long term health of the party to have participation at the convention that reflects the make-up of the entire party.
The process for getting elected as a state delegate starts with the primary election when those who participate are able to attend a precinct convention which starts the selection of the state delegates. Because the delegate allocation for state convention is so generous
almost anyone who wants to participate can do so.
Like us or sign up as a
Texans for Civic Engagement supporter and well get you trained and help you to participate in such a capacity.
Beth Cubriel is a former Executive Director of the Republican Party of Texas served as State Field Director for Texas Senator John Cornyn and is currently the Austin Director for Michael Best Strategies She volunteers with Texans for Civic Engagement.
