2008 Electoral College | Two locals are part of the process

Republican: Janet Jackson
Remington resident conservative to the core

Limited government.

Pro-life.

Gun rights.

A strong military.

Janet Jackson takes pride in her Republican convictions.

She also sports a sense of humor, calling herself “the original Janet Jackson.”

These attributes helped earn the 74-year-old Remington resident — not the pop music diva — one of America’s most important, yet most obscure, responsibilities.

At a meeting of the GOP’s First Congressional District May 10 at Caroline County High School, committee members selected Jackson to serve as a presidential elector.

Should John McCain win the vote Nov. 4 among Virginians, Jackson would be one of 13 GOP delegates to cast a vote in the nation’s Electoral College. If he loses the state to Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, the Democrats would use their slate of electors.

Each state has a similar process, and a president can’t be named until all the electors’ votes are made official.

“I was just thrilled I was elected,” Jackson said from her living room, military photos of her three sons and deceased husband hanging overhead. “I want us to remain a strong, sovereign nation.”

And that’s just what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they created the Electoral College. To this day, it serves as a compromise between election of the president by Congress and election by popular vote. Eleven congressional districts constitute Virginia — Fauquier County is in the first and Culpeper the seventh. Under state law, each political party nominates a slate of presidential electors (one representative for each district and two at large).

Jackson, who represents Fauquier County and serves as First District treasurer for the Republican Party of Virginia, has a long history with the GOP. When the Communist scare enveloped the nation in the early 1950s, she gravitated toward politics as a high school student in Grove City, Pa.

Nearly 60 years later, she’s still going strong.

“I believe in the Republican creed wholeheartedly,” she emphasized.

As for whether Jackson will be one of those rare “faithless electors” who rebels against the party’s wishes and votes for the other guy (or gal) … well, that’s kind of a moot point.

Virginia law forbids such a move — or, technically, it states electors “shall be expected” to vote for nominees. Still, Jackson shudders at the thought of casting a vote for anyone other than the GOP’s nominee.

“I will vote, obviously, for McCain,” she said. “If I’m there.”

Rob Humphreys can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 128 or

Janet Jackson
Republican

Political background: First Congressional District treasurer and Fauquier County representative for the Republican Party of Virginia
Electoral College: Should John McCain carry Virginia’s popular vote, Jackson would serve as one of the state GOP’s 13 electors in the November presidential race
Her district: The First Congressional District runs along U.S. 17, from Fauquier County in the northwest to Newport News in the southeast.
Residence: Remington
Age: 74
Family: Three children: Ken, 49, Tom, 46, Ron, 45; former husband deceased
Education: Grove City (Pa.) College
Profession: Retired

Democrat: Harold Boyd
High school teacher says change is in the air

Virginia hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

That’s not dampening J. Harold A. Boyd’s enthusiasm.

The self-described Yellow Dog Democrat says this is the year.

“I really think there’s a good, good chance,” said Boyd, a Culpeper resident who teaches government and history to seniors at Chancellor High School.

Boyd is the Democratic Party’s elector for Virginia’s Seventh Congressional District. If Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton wins the state, Boyd would go to Richmond Dec. 15 to cast the district’s lone vote in the Electoral College.

As outlined in the Constitution, the Electoral College — not the popular vote — officially elects the president.

The winning candidate needs a majority of the nation’s 538 electoral votes, 13 of which belong to Virginia.

At the district convention May 10 in Glen Allen, Democrats chose Boyd from among six candidates.

It marks the second time he’s held the elector designation. (In 1976, Boyd was on the losing side when Virginians voted for Gerald Ford over Jimmy Carter.)

This time around, Boyd favors Obama but would gladly vote for whichever Democrat beats Republican John McCain.

If McCain wins, Boyd stays home once again and the GOP’s slate of electors gets to cast their ballots.

But Boyd is optimistic that won’t happen.

In fact, he’s already making plans.

“If they’ll let me,” he said, “I want to take my kids down to let them see me vote for the president.”

Rob Humphreys can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 128 or

J. Harold A. Boyd
Democrat

Political background: Communications/information specialist for the Culpeper County Democratic Committee; campaign manager for 7th District U.S. House candidate Anita Hartke.
Electoral College: Should Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton carry Virginia’s popular vote, Boyd would serve as one of the state Democrats’ 13 electors in the November presidential race
His district: The Seventh Congressional District runs primarily along U.S. 522, from Rappahannock County in the north to Chesterfield County in the south. It includes Culpeper County.
Residence: Culpeper
Age: 57
Family: Wife Donna; children Denise, 36; Ashby, 30
Education: Mary Washington College
Profession: Government and history teacher at Chancellor High School

About the Electoral College

You could spend four years earning a political science degree and still not have a firm grasp on one of the nation’s most complex institutions: the Electoral College. But here are a few insights to help you get ready for the Nov. 4 presidential election …

- What is it? The Electoral College is the United States’ way of officially electing a president. In order to win office, a candidate must collect a majority of the country’s 538 electoral votes, which are proportionally split among the 50 states and Washington, D.C. As evidenced by the Gore-Bush race in 2000, winning the overall popular vote does not necessarily guarantee victory.

- How are electors chosen? It can vary by state, but in Virginia, both the Republican and Democratic parties select a slate of electors among their respective membership — one for each congressional district and two at large. Whichever candidate wins the state’s popular vote, his or her party’s electors officially cast their ballots during a meeting Dec. 15.

- Is it still relevant? Ever since the Founding Fathers drafted the concept of presidential electors into the Constitution, arguments have been made for and against the system. Those discussions continue today, as many believe the Electoral College is outdated and needs reform. Others stand behind the process, arguing that it remains the best way to choose a national leader.

-For more: Learn everything you need to know about the Electoral College, and create your own state-by-state scenarios using an interactive map at archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college

Source: Office of the Federal Register, U.S. National Archives and Records Admin.