By virtue of President Barack Obama’s resounding victory in Maryland last month, a slate of 10 Democrats from throughout the state were given the honor of casting the Free State’s electoral votes.
While the popular vote determines which candidate carries a state, it is the Electoral College tally that determines the winner of the race for president of the United States.
Beth Swoap of St. Leonard was one of the 10 electors who met in Annapolis Monday, Dec. 17 to cast the state’s votes. Swoap, who is currently serving as treasurer of the Calvert County Democratic Party Central Committee and is also a member of the Calvert County Liquor Board, indicated the opportunity to participate was both memorable and educational.
“It was an awesome and sobering experience,” Swoap stated. “I learned that in Maryland, after being sworn in, should an elector not vote for the candidate who won the plurality of vote, that elector has committed a felony. I’m glad I was voting for the right guys.”
Because it has eight members in the U.S. House of Representatives, Maryland has 10 electoral votes—every state has at least three, two each for U.S. senators and then the number of congressmen, which is determined by population.
Each state’s electors meet on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December in a Presidential Election year in that state’s capital. In Maryland, the electors are sworn in by the clerk of the Court of Appeals.
“We actually cast separate ballots for president and vice president,” Swoap explained. “We each signed about 48 pages. These votes will now forever be in the National Archives. They will be delivered to the vice president and then on Jan. 6, in a joint session of Congress, they will be opened and finally counted.”
