September Newsletter

The 2020 conventions are over, and I keep thinking to myself, “Thank God I’m a Republican!” As we saw last week, the differences between the GOP and today’s leftwing Democrat party are more stark than ever. The conventions last week highlighted the urgent need to vote Republican all the way down the ballot in this 2020 election.

It was so encouraging to watch the GOP convention and to see so many everyday Americans speak about our conservative and traditional values. Our convention told the story of America’s great history and legacy. It demonstrated how America still is that “Great City on a Hill” and remains a beacon of freedom for people all over the world. 

In contrast, the Democrat convention was dark. While the Democrat party keeps drifting to the left and towards Socialism, our GOP is standing tall for freedom—freedom that kindles the entrepreneurial spirit and the freedom that has kept our country strong for 244 years! 

A vote for Republicans is a vote for freedom;
it is a vote for personal responsibility;
it is a vote for the rule of law;
it is a vote for freedom of speech;
it is a vote for free enterprise;
it is a vote for freedom of religion;
it is a vote for reduced federal regulation;
it is a vote for limited taxes;
it is a vote for energy independence; and,
it is a vote for national security.
There is a choice. 

As the Democrats turn their back on police and law enforcement and ignore or in some instances encourage the rioters nationwide, our Republican Party will always be the party of law and order so that all Americans have the freedom to walk the streets in safety and confidence.

The conventions are over. It’s time to tell all our friends, “Thank God I’m a Republican!” and to GO VOTE!

• Counting State Convention hours : You can count from the time each day was gaveled in until you were gaveled out for that day from either General Session or your CD or SD Caucuses. For instance, On Sunday July 19^th, we gaveled in at 12:30pm and many of us did not sign out until the wee hours of the morning. If you attended any of the extra events – Gala, prayer meeting etc those hours count.
• Harris County GOP organization meeting 8/18/2020
• GOTV (Get Out the Vote) rally on Aug. 18
• Mary Nan Huffman event hosted by VRW Aug. 18
• Events your attended for a candidate
• Work for a campaign such as phone calls, post cards, distribution of campaign material, block walking, sharing on social media
• Zoom forums count
• Any work done on behalf of VRW – prep for Centennial Celebration, newsletter, etc.

• Harris County Republican Candidates
• Toni Ann Dashiel, RNC national committee woman, past president of TFRW has TAD talks. They are informative and fun.

Time is running out to buy your ticket to the Centennial Celebration!
You can still buy your Early Bird ticket for $50 by Monday, August 31. Remember, the First 100 who have purchased their ticket will get a beautiful, custom VRW Centennial Commemorative Pin.
 

Included in your registration, you will receive a great Centennial Tote featuring the VRW Votes for Women logo. This tote is guaranteed to hold all your shopping purchases at the Village Market!

We are proud to announce the Centennial Sponsors so far:

• Steve Raddick
• Rep Jim Murphy
• Tom Ramsey
• Beverly Roberts
• Kathaleen Wall
• Greg Travis

Priceless Live Auction Item! You will want to bid on this gorgeous,
patriotic, Swarovski crystal, clutch bag. This bag is a must have item for every fashionable, Republican women!!

Special Exhibit Sponsor: We are very excited that The Heritage Society at Sam Houston Park has generously loaned us part of their wonderful exhibit celebrating 100 years of the right to vote. They will also have a booth at the Village Market where you can purchase one-of-a-kind Votes for Women memorabilia. 

Come meet the Candidates running for office in the November 2020 election.

Established in Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, the Electoral College is the formal body which elects the President and Vice President of the United States. Each state has as many "electors" in the Electoral College as it has Representatives and Senators in the United States Congress, and the District of Columbia has three electors. When voters go to the polls in a Presidential election, they actually are voting for the slate of electors vowing to cast their ballots for that ticket in the Electoral College.

The election process begins with primary elections and caucuses. These are two methods that states use to select a potential presidential nominee. In general, primaries use secret ballots for voting. Caucuses are local gatherings of voters who vote at the end of the meeting for a particular candidate. As we have been watching over the last few weeks, then it moves to nominating conventions, during which political parties each select a nominee to unite behind. During a political party convention, each presidential nominee also announces a vice presidential running mate. 

During the general election, Americans go to their polling place to cast their vote for president. But the tally of those votes—the popular vote—does not determine the winner. Instead, presidential elections use the Electoral College. The Electoral College is a process, not a place. The Founding Fathers established it in the Constitution, in part, as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens.

To win the election, a candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes. In the event no candidate receives a majority, the House of Representatives chooses the president and the Senate chooses the vice president. This is why you are seeing reports that Nancy Pelosi may decide this years presidential election.  If Donald trump does not receive a majority of electoral votes, the House of Representatives, led by Nancy Pelosi and controlled by democrats, will elect our president.

How many electors are there? How are they distributed among the States?
The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. Your State has the same number of electors as it does Members in its Congressional delegation: one for each Member in the House of Representatives plus two Senators. The number of members each state has in its Congressional delegation is determined by its population – that is why the census is so important.

Allocation among the States
Electoral votes are allocated among the States based on the Census. Every State is allocated a number of votes equal to the number of senators and representatives in its U.S. Congressional delegation—two votes for its senators in the U.S. Senate plus a number of votes equal to the number of its Congressional districts.

Under the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution, the District of Columbia is allocated three electors and treated like a State for purposes of the Electoral College.

Each State (which includes the District of Columbia for this discussion) decides how to appoint its electors. Currently all States use the popular vote results from the November general election to decide which political party chooses the individuals who are appointed. 
 
Allocation within each State
All States, except for Maine and Nebraska have a winner-take-all policy where the State looks only at the overall winner of the state-wide popular vote.  Maine and Nebraska, however, appoint individual electors based on the winner of the popular vote for each Congressional district and then 2 electors based on the winner of the overall state-wide popular vote. 

Even though Maine and Nebraska don't use a winner-take-all system, it is rare for either State to have a split vote.  Each has done so once: Nebraska in 2008 and Maine in 2016.

Electors
Most states require that all electoral votes go to the candidate who receives the plurality in that state. After state election officials certify the popular vote of each state, the winning slate of electors meet in the state capital and cast two ballots—one for Vice President and one for President. Electors cannot vote for a Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate who both hail from an elector’s home state.

Maine and Nebraska employ a “district system” in which two at-large electors vote for the state’s popular plurality and one elector votes for each congressional district’s popular plurality. In the November 2, 2004, election, Colorado voters rejected a “proportional system” in which electors would vote proportionally based on the state’s popular vote.

The District of Columbia and 26 states “bind” their electors to vote for their promised candidate, via a number of methods including oaths and fines. In the modern era, very rarely have electors voted for someone other than for whom they pledged. Though still rare, electors more commonly changed their vote in the 19th century—particularly on the vote for Vice President. Such “faithless electors” have never decided a Presidency.
There has been one faithless elector in each of the following elections: 1948, 1956, 1960, 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1988. A blank ballot was cast in 2000. In 2016, seven electors broke with their state on the presidential ballot and six did so on the vice presidential ballot.

Each state and the District of Columbia will appoint its electors after it certifies the general election results. Each will then prepare a Certificate of Ascertainment which will contain the names of the electors and the number of votes they received. Certificates of Ascertainment also may contain the party affiliation for electors. OFR posts the Certificates of Ascertainment after receiving them from the States. You’ll find the posted Certificates on the website for the Electoral College.

However, OFR does not receive the names of the electors until receiving the Certificates of Ascertainment. To find out the names earlier, you would need to contact each State and the District of Columbia individually to request the contact information for their electors. The National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) can help you find contact information for the States.

Some States release the slates of all potential electors before the general election and some States include the names of the potential electors on the general election ballot. How each State approaches these issues is up to the State.

Whether or when a State releases contact or other information about its electors is also up to the State.

Electoral College
 
Current allocations
The current allocations above are based on the 2010 Census. They are effective for the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections. So even though Texas’ population has increased dramatically since 2010, we will not receive additional seats to our congressional delegation until after this election. Therefore we will not receive additional electoral votes until after this election.  Please encourage everyone you know to fill out the census forms. 

Procedure
Since the mid-20th century, on January 6 at 1:00 pm before a Joint Session of Congress, the Vice President opens the votes from each state in alphabetical order. He passes the votes to four tellers—two from the House and two from the Senate—who announce the results. House tellers include one Representative from each party and are appointed by the Speaker. At the end of the count, the Vice President then declares the name of the next President.

With the ratification of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution (and starting with the 75th Congress in 1937), the electoral votes are counted before the newly sworn-in Congress, elected the previous November.

The date of the count was changed in 1957, 1985, 1989, 1997, 2009, and 2013.

Objections
Since 1887, 3 U.S.C. 15 sets the method for objections to electoral votes. During the Joint Session, Members of Congress may object to individual electoral votes or to state returns as a whole. An objection must be declared in writing and signed by at least one Representative and one Senator. In the case of an objection, the Joint Session recesses and each chamber considers the objection separately in a session which cannot last more than two hours with each Member speaking for no more than five minutes. After each house votes on whether or not to accept the objection, the Joint Session reconvenes and both chambers disclose their decisions. If they agree to the objection, the votes in question are not counted. If either chamber does not agree with the objection, the votes are counted.

Objections to the Electoral College votes were recorded in 1969 and 2005. In both cases, the House and Senate rejected the objections and the votes in question were counted.

Attempts to Amend the Process
There have been attempts to change the system, particularly after cases in which a candidate wins the popular vote, but loses in the Electoral College.

Five times a candidate has won the popular vote and lost the election. Andrew Jackson in 1824 (to John Quincy Adams); Samuel Tilden in 1876 (to Rutherford B. Hayes); Grover Cleveland in 1888 (to Benjamin Harrison); Al Gore in 2000 (to George W. Bush); Hillary Clinton in 2016 (to Donald J. Trump).
The closest Congress has come to amending the Electoral College since 1804 was during the 91st Congress (1969–1971). H.J. Res. 681 proposed the direct election of a President and Vice President, requiring a run off when no candidate received more than 40 percent of the vote. The resolution passed the House in 1969, but failed to pass the Senate.

Contingent Elections
In the case of an Electoral College deadlock or if no candidate receives the majority of votes, a “contingent election” is held. The election of the President goes to the House of Representatives. Each state delegation casts one vote for one of the top three contenders to determine a winner.

Only two Presidential elections (1800 and 1824) have been decided in the House. Though not officially a contingent election, in 1876, South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana submitted certificates of elections for both candidates. A bipartisan commission of Representatives, Senators, and Supreme Court Justices, reviewed the ballots and awarded all three state’s electoral votes to Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio, who won the presidency by a single electoral vote.

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