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Monday, December 18, 2000 Volume XXV, No. 43
Roswell, New Mexico
In this issue:
The Electors
First Monday-----Today!
Federal Statute
New Mexico Statute
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[Editor's Note: LTS has been on the East Coast for the past week and mostly out of the loop---we have hundreds of e-mails to respond to and may very well have missed some key news items which we will allude to below.]
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"...the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December..."
3 U.S.C. § 7 (June 25, 1948, ch 644, 62 Stat. 673)
We don't know if it is just us, but we have not heard any reference
at all to one lingering doubt/fear we have about December 18th.
Like everyone else, we have seen numerous stories regarding appointments
by Bush and the exhaustive work of his transition team, busy naming
every member of the upcoming administration, from Secretary of State
to ambassador to Burkina Faso.
What we have not seen anywhere (and may have missed, see note above)
are any doubts expressed about the possibility of Bush not getting
elected. "What? I thought he was already elected!" you
say. Well, no. Theoretically he has "earned" 271 electoral
votes. But in fact he has "won" nothing. Electors won
their individual races in 30 states for Bush. It would actually
be more accurate to say that teams of electors pledged to Bush won
in 30 states. Those teams total 271 members. But, as we have painstakingly
pointed out through the years, each and every one of the 538 electors
in the country is a free agent. He, or she, can vote for anyone
he chooses.
Well, we know the odds are greatly against anyone flipping, not
voting, or something else. But, speaking as an elector myself, I
can tell you that during the time New Mexico was in doubt I was
called six times (WSJ, Bloomberg News Service, AP, Newsday, Knight-Ridder
and CNN) and questioned about whether or not I would "vote
for Gore if he won the popular vote nationwide."
Think of how much more pressure an intense DNC/Gore-Lieberman full
court press might have sounded. All they would have to find would
be three people out of 271 and Gore would be president. We should
know sometime late this afternoon if they were successful. These
votes, after all, are not secret.
Title 3, United States Code
3 U.S.C. § 7 Meeting and Vote of Electors
The electors of President and Vice President of each State shall
meet and give their votes on the first Monday after the second Wednesday
in December next following their appointment at such place in each
State as the legislature of such State shall direct. (June 25, 1948,
ch.644, 62 Stat. 673)
3 U.S.C. § 8 Manner of Voting
The electors shall vote for President and Vice President, respectively,
in the manner directed by the Constitution. (June 25, 1948, ch.644,
62 Stat. 673)
Presidential electors for the State shall perform the duties of
the presidential elctors required by law and the Constitution of
the United States. (1-15-5, NMSA, 1978)
Presidential electors of the State shall meet at 11:00 a.m. in the
office of the Secretary of State on the day fixed by the laws of
the United States. (1-15-6-A, NMSA, 1978)
At such meeting the presidential electors shall organize by choosing
a presiding officer and a secretary. (1-15-6-B, NMSA, 1978)
If the full number of electors required by law are not present at
such meeting for any reason, those presidential electors present
shall, from a list of names nominated by the State chairman of that
party, forthwith choose electors from the voters of that State party.
(1-15-6-C, NMSA, 1978)
The presidential electors of the State shall meet at noon in the
office of the Secretary of State on the day fixed by the laws of
the United States for presidential electors to cast their ballots
for President and Vice President and shall proceed to vote by ballot
for President and Vice President of the United States...All presidential
electors shall cast their ballots in the electoral college for the
candidates of the political party which nominated them as presidential
electors. Any presidential elector who casts his ballot in violation
of the provisions is guilty of a fourth degree felony.
(§§ 1-15-8 and 1-15-9, NMSA, 1978)