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What are the qualifications to be an elector?


What are the qualifications to be an elector?

The U.S. Constitution contains very few provisions relating to the qualifications of electors. Article II, section 1, clause 2 provides that no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector. As a historical matter, the 14th Amendment provides that State officials who have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States or given aid and comfort to its enemies are disqualified from serving as electors. This prohibition relates to the post-Civil War era.

Each State’s Certificates of Ascertainment confirms the names of its appointed electors. A State’s certification of its electors is generally sufficient to establish the qualifications of electors.

Who selects the electors?
Choosing each State’s electors is a two-part process. First, the political parties in each State choose slates of potential electors sometime before the general election. Second, during the general election, the voters in each State select their State’s electors by casting their ballots.

The first part of the process is controlled by the political parties in each State and varies from State to State. Generally, the parties either nominate slates of potential electors at their State party conventions or they chose them by a vote of the party’s central committee. This happens in each State for each party by whatever rules the State party and (sometimes) the national party have for the process. This first part of the process results in each Presidential candidate having their own unique slate of potential electors.

Political parties often choose individuals for the slate to recognize their service and dedication to that political party. They may be State elected officials, State party leaders, or people in the State who have a personal or political affiliation with their party’s Presidential candidate. (For specific information about how slates of potential electors are chosen, contact the political parties in each State.)

The second part of the process happens during the general election. When the voters in each State cast votes for the Presidential candidate of their choice they are voting to select their State’s electors. The potential electors’ names may or may not appear on the ballot below the name of the Presidential candidates, depending on election procedures and ballot formats in each State.

The winning Presidential candidate’s slate of potential electors are appointed as the State’s electors—except in Nebraska and Maine, which have proportional distribution of the electors. In Nebraska and Maine, the State winner receives two electors and the winner of each congressional district (who may be the same as the overall winner or a different candidate) receives one elector. This system permits Nebraska and Maine to award electors to more than one candidate.

Do electors get to vote twice for President?
Electors do not vote twice for President. When they vote in the November general election, they aren’t electors yet; they are voting for themselves to be electors. They are the only ones who actually vote for President, which they do at the meeting of the electors (the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December).

Are there restrictions on who the electors can vote for
There is no Constitutional provision or Federal law that requires electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote in their States. Some States, however, require electors to cast their votes according to the popular vote. These pledges fall into two categories—electors bound by State law and those bound by pledges to political parties.

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Constitution does not require that electors be completely free to act as they choose and therefore, political parties may extract pledges from electors to vote for the parties’ nominees. Some State laws provide that so-called “faithless electors” may be subject to fines or may be disqualified for casting an invalid vote and be replaced by a substitute elector. The Supreme Court has not specifically ruled on the question of whether pledges and penalties for failure to vote as pledged may be enforced under the Constitution. No elector has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote as pledged. However, several electors were disqualified and replaced in 2016 for failing to vote as pledged.

It is rare for electors to disregard the popular vote by casting their electoral vote for someone other than their party’s candidate. Electors generally hold a leadership position in their party or were chosen to recognize years of loyal service to the party. Throughout our history as a nation, more than 99 percent of electors have voted as pledged.

The National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) has compiled a brief summary of State laws about the various procedures, which vary from State to State, for selecting slates of potential electors and for conducting the meeting of the electors. You can download the document, “Summary: State Laws Regarding Presidential Electors,” from the NASS website.

If the electors vote for President, why should I vote in the general election?

During the general election, your vote helps determine your State’s electors. When you vote for a Presidential candidate, you aren’t actually voting for President. You are telling your State which candidate you want your State to vote for at the meeting of electors. The States use these general election results (also known as the popular vote) to appoint their electors. The winning candidate’s State political party selects the individuals who will be electors.

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Dec 12, 1912 – The Mother’s Day International Association was incorporated with the purpose of furthering meaningful observations of Mother’s Day.


The first Mother’s Day proclamation was issued by the governor of West Virginia in 1910. Oklahoma celebrated Mother’s Day that year as well.

By 1911 every state had its own observances. By then other areas celebrating Mother’s Day included Mexico, Canada, China, Japan, South America and Africa.

The Mother’s Day International Association was incorporated on December 12, 1912, with the purpose of furthering meaningful observations of Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day is celebrated in many countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, Mexico, Canada, China, Japan and Belgium. The day is used by children and husbands to honor mothers and grandmothers for all that they do in raising children.

~ Culture & History

Mom’s Day


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 johnOceguerafamilyshot

Mother’s Day is a special time for new moms. But it can also be a stressful time for new parents facing the responsibility of caring for a newborn or infant.
Physicians from FDA’s Pediatric and Maternal Health Staff offer five tips for new moms, including important advice on how to safely store and give medicines, and how new mothers can take care of their own health.
More Information:
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— An open letter to Governor Inslee and ESD Commissioner LeVine — 3 Steps for getting money to Workers


“The unemployment system is in crisis. We urge you to prioritize getting money into workers’ hands as quickly as possible.”
 
April 29, 2020
 
Dear Governor Inslee & Commissioner LeVine:
 
As the coronavirus shutdown has effectively eliminated work opportunities in entire sectors of the economy, unemployment insurance has become a critical lifeline for hundreds of thousands of working people across our state who are jobless and struggling to pay their bills, feed their families, and afford their homes. We count on your leadership to get unemployment assistance to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.
 
We applaud the governor’s early executive orders that expanded access to unemployment for workers who experienced COVID-19 related job separations and the Employment Security Department’s efforts to eliminate work search requirements and create additional flexibility in other areas. Washington is once again seen as setting the standard nationwide. However, in these unprecedented times, more must be done.
 
We continue to hear from workers who are unable to file claims, bewildered by technical language and contradictory instructions, put on hold for hours at a time when they try to call to address these issues, and then left waiting weeks for their individual cases to be addressed with no clear next steps and no timeline for resolution. The hardship is compounded for individuals who do not have ready access to a computer or the internet, have limited English proficiency, or have a disability that requires additional access accommodations. And while ESD has committed to pay benefits retroactively once claims are adjudicated, this does not address the intensity of the need being faced by workers who were living paycheck-to-paycheck before the crisis, and are now left waiting weeks for resolution of the claims with zero income.
 
The unemployment system is in crisis, and Washington can do better at providing income support and effectively leveraging federal funds earmarked for this purpose.
 
We urge you to take these three steps to prioritize getting money into workers’ hands as quickly as possible:
 
1. Confirm baseline eligibility within 7 days.
Workers often report being left on “pending” status for weeks on end without any guidance or additional information as their eligibility for state unemployment is determined. We urge ESD to rapidly assess baseline eligibility for unemployment benefits simply by confirming if state records show more than 680 hours reported during the base year, and allowing workers to self-certify their reason for separation and their availability to work. A swift assessment will allow workers who are initially denied state unemployment benefits to immediately apply for expanded Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.
 
2. Immediately begin paying the minimum benefit as soon as baseline eligibility is determined.
Once an applicant’s baseline eligibility has been confirmed, they should immediately begin to receive at least the minimum unemployment insurance benefit, including the $600 federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation. Any later fact-finding determinations which eventually result in adjustments to amounts of benefit payment, employer experience ratings, or sources of monies backing benefits can be addressed through funds transfers or benefit adjustments. In no case should a worker have benefits reduced without first having access to an appeals process.
 
3. Make the system work equitably for everyone.
Many unemployed workers are struggling to access their benefits, and due to inequities in access to broadband and insufficient translation resources, workers of color and immigrant workers are disproportionately likely to face obstacles to accessing the online system to successfully file claims. When workers who can’t access the online system have specific questions or issues, they must then turn to the overwhelmed phone system — which means they may be unable to file their claims at all. The state must ensure all applicants have equitable access to benefits regardless of translation needs or technology access by ensuring clear consistent communications to claimants; by providing a dedicated phone number for those who require access to interpretation; and by making the online filing system available in the fifteen languages in which the department already provides translation support. ESD must also take additional steps to accommodate gig workers, people who work in less formal sectors of the economy, and those who get significant income in the form of tips by allowing flexible documentation of income, including via 1099s, paystubs, bank deposit records, invoices, and receipts.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 
Additionally, we urge you to monitor implementation of these adjustments by regularly reporting on key performance indicators including average wait time between filing and benefit payments, average response time by phone and to online messages (broken down by language), and denial rate for conventional unemployment and PUA (broken down by reasons for denials).
 
Social distancing measures disproportionately impact low-wage service work, gig work, domestic work, and other financially precarious sectors that are more likely to employ workers of color and immigrants. Many of these workers have also been historically excluded from worker protections like unemployment but should now have access to benefits through the CARES Act. How ESD chooses to roll out access to these benefits will either address or exacerbate existing racial and economic disparities in the state.
 
By taking these three bold steps to prioritize getting money into workers’ hands as quickly as possible, the state can continue to set the national standard in providing critical income support to people who have lost their work during this crisis. We look forward to hearing your plan to move promptly to adopt these policies.
 
Signed by IBEW Local 46; Ironworkers Local 86; SEIU 775; Unemployment Law Project; UNITE HERE Local 8; Washington Low Income Housing Alliance; Washington State Building & Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO; Working Washington.

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