By ANDREW BROWN
Charleston Gazette-Mail
(Photo by Kenny Kemp)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — As protesters in other states gathered in large numbers to oppose the Electoral College’s approval of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States, West Virginia’s five electors unsurprisingly cast their ballots for the Republican president-elect.
There were a few protesters at the West Virginia Capitol Monday morning, but in a state where 68 percent of the voting population — more than 489,000 people — cast a ballot for the real estate mogul and former reality television star, opposition was subdued.
The Mountain State’s five electors — the people that actually get to choose who West Virginians select as president — included Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, incoming Secretary of State Mac Warner, failed state Treasurer candidate Ann Urling, outgoing state Senate president and failed gubernatorial candidate Bill Cole and newly elected Putnam County Commissioner Ronald Foster — who legally changed his middle name to Reagan in 2012 to honor the former Republican president.
Since the national elections in November, there has been an ongoing public conversation about the fairness and continued appropriateness of the country’s Electoral College system, which will hand Trump the presidency even as he lost the popular vote by more than 2.8 million votes, according to the latest certified results.
But West Virginia’s electors are having nothing to do with calls to change the country’s presidential election system — although Warner said he, hypothetically, could consider bucking the will of West Virginians if the voters’ choice didn’t match with his preferred candidate.
“I think it’s possible, yeah,” Warner said.
Warner, who will be running West Virginia’s elections as secretary of state for the next four years, says that the Electoral College should be maintained because it curbs simple majority rule.
“It was called a miracle in 1776 for a reason. Our founding fathers had a great vision. They had seen pure democracy at work, and knew that democracy actually takes away for an individual to express his rights,” Warner said, referring to the U.S. Constitution, which was signed in 1787.
“Democracy works with a group. Fifty one percent controls everything,” Warner said. “So the reason for the republic is to give those states rights and those individuals rights through those electors. It’s a wonderful process that we have and that’s why when we pledge allegiance, we pledge allegiance to the republic, not to the democracy.”
“I would never advocate for a pure democracy,” he added.
During the elector ceremony, several West Virginia high school students explained some of the history behind the electoral college, including how it gives more power to smaller states like West Virginia and less power to large states like California and New York that voted largely for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Morrisey, who won a second term as state attorney general this year, said he likes the system.
“I think the Electoral College has several significant benefits,” Morrisey said. “It really helps a state like West Virginia that gets an even stronger voice, while it has less population. So I don’t see that there is a significant defect in the process. It’s working the way it should and I think we should stick with it.”
During his time in office, Morrisey has used his position to challenge several of President Barack Obama’s initiatives in federal court, including environmental rules intended to reduce air and water pollution.
Morrisey said Monday that he was excited to cast his electoral vote for Trump, a president-elect who has promised to remove regulations on coal mining and has nominated several cabinet secretaries that oppose the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan.
“This is really an amazing experience,” Morrisey said. “I’m a first-time elector. So to be able to participate in the pageantry and an incredible part of history is humbling.”
Morrisey said Monday’s event was a nice way to end a year in which the state Republican Party improved its control over the state Legislature and captured more statewide elected offices than it had in decades. After the ceremony, he pocketed the blue Sharpie that he used to cast one of the 538 electoral college votes for Trump.
“I’m going to keep the pen because it’s a nice memento,” Morrisey said. “I liken it to a pen that you might get at a presidential signing ceremony for a bill. I thought it was pretty neat. History was made here today by the five electors.”
Urling, who is also the president of Summit Community Bank, says she received thousands of letters, emails and Facebook posts before Monday advocating for her to ignore the votes of a large majority of West Virginians in order to select Clinton.
But voting for someone other than Trump was never a consideration, she said.
It wasn’t a consideration for Cole, either. During his run for governor, Cole did his best to embrace Trump, a candidate who got huge cheers for donning a hard hat during his rally in Charleston in May.
The Republican presidential candidate was so popular in West Virginia that Cole and Democratic governor-elect Jim Justice bickered during a debate over who was better friends with Trump.
“I’m certainly proud to have been part of the ceremony today, but very excited for our country, very excited for our new president and vice president coming in,” Cole said, after his vote was cast. “I feel like we got to claim a little piece of history today.”
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