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The ancient and constitutionally prescribed formula for calculating Connecticut’s presidential vote in 2024 was followed Tuesday in a ceremony employing prayer, Waterman pens, engraved ballots, a carved wooden box, sealing wax and a saxophone. There was no math, as no equation could explain how 992,053 votes for Kamala Harris and 736,918 votes for Donald J. Trump on Nov.
5 could result in five men and two women casting seven votes for Harris and none for Trump on Dec. 17 in the state Senate. As Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas explained, it’s all in Article Two, Section One, Clause Three of the U.
S. Constitution: Americans don’t actually vote for president; they vote for slates of electors to the Electoral College. Similar ceremonies were conducted Tuesday in state Capitols across the U.
S., formalizing but not finalizing Trump’s victory over Harris. “These votes will be recorded on the certificate of vote sent to Congress to be counted on Jan.
6,” Thomas said. Oh, yes, Jan. 6.
On that date in 2021, Americans got a civics lesson about the mechanics of electing a president and certifying the results. Vice President Mike Pence accepted the results as certified by each state, defying Trump and a riotous mob to declare Joe Biden the winner. “We are here to bear witness to the ways democracy demands the best of who we are,” the Rev.
Erica Thompson of Asylum Hill Congregational Church told the electors and witnesses in Hartford in an opening prayer. For the first time in his three runs for the White House, Trump won the popular vote on Nov. 5, if by a relatively close margin, 77.
2 million to 75 million. His win in the 538-member Electoral College was greater, 312 to 226. Electoral College votes are based on a state’s representation in Congress: With two senators and five House members, Connecticut has seven.
In Connecticut and nearly every other state, the contest for the electoral votes are winner take all, not proportional to the popular vote. The race turned on just three states. Harris lost Pennsylvania by 1.
7 percentage points, Michigan by 1.4 points and Wisconsin by 0.9 points.
Victories in those states would have garnered 44 more electoral votes, giving Harris the minimum 270 votes to win, with 268 for Trump. There is no suggestion that Harris would reject the votes certified in Pennsylvania, Michigan or Wisconsin, as Trump asked of Pence four years ago. Instead, Harris will perform one of her final functions as vice president on Jan.
6, 2025, presiding over the counting of state-by-state results reported to the Senate and confirmed in signed documents sent to the Archivist of the United States, including those completed in Hartford. The ceremony opened with Connecticut’s Kid Governor, Cristiano Almeida of Southington, and his cabinet pledging allegiance to the flag. Faizan Seyal, 14, of Fairfield, the winner of the Connecticut Civics Bee, sang the National Anthem.
Connecticut’s slate of seven Democratic electors was chosen in May at the Democratic state convention. Biden still was the Democratic nominee for president. There had been no debates, no attempt on the life of Trump.
They are Democratic activists: Kevin Sullivan, the former Senate president pro tem and lieutenant governor, of West Hartford; Nick Balletto, the former Democratic state chair, from East Haven; Rep. Geraldo Reyes of Waterbury; Tiffani McGinnis, a town councilor from West Hartford and organizer for Harris; Michael Pohl, the Democratic chair of Manchester; and David Kostek of Westport and Dorothy Grady of Coventry, both congressional staffers long active in party politics. Each signed engraved ballots the size of index cards: one bearing the name of Harris; the other her running mate, Timothy Walz.
The secretary of the state had provided each with a boxed Waterman ballpoint pen, a souvenir to keep. One by one, they walked to a wooden box, reputedly carved from the wood of the Charter Oak, to deposit the ballots. As they voted, Jenna Nome, an employee of the secretary of the state’s office, offered a musical interlude on her saxophone, playing “Fly Me to the Moon.
” Balletto then opened the box and confirmed seven votes for Harris, then the same for Walz. In addition, all seven electors signed forms attesting to the votes. Those forms were placed in oversized envelopes.
Thomas poured melted wax on each, then pressed the state seal. It was over in 37 minutes. Thompson, the minister, closed with a final prayer.
“We acknowledge that governing is not an easy task, given the deep divisions and outright hostilities so rampant in our country right now. We acknowledge that there are many who are fearful about the future,” Thompson said. “Give us the clarity of mind and the fortitude of spirit to do what is good and right.
” Mark Pazniokas is a reporter for The Connecticut Mirror (ctmirror.org). Copyright 2024 © The Connecticut Mirror.
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