Massachusetts electors to cast 11 state votes for president
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts electors will meet Monday afternoon to cast the state’s 11 electoral votes for president and vice president.
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris handily won Massachusetts with more than 65% of the vote.
The electors, who were chosen by Massachusetts voters in the Nov. 3 election, will gather at 3 p.m. to cast their votes in the House chamber at the Massachusetts Statehouse.
Ten of the 11 original electors are expected to attend, with one position vacant due to the death of Ronald Valerio of Auburn. Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin will preside over the start of the process by taking a roll of the electors and announcing a vacancy.
State law allows the electors to choose any Massachusetts citizen to fill the vacancy. The Massachusetts Democratic Party has a practice of choosing two alternate electors to attend the meeting, in case of a vacancy.
Once there is a full slate, the 11 electors will move on to casting their ballots.
The 10 electors are: Kathleen Donaghue, of Westborough; Joseph Kelly, of Hingham; Nicole LaChapelle, of Easthampton; Thomas Larkin, of Bedford; Robert Markel, of Boston; Linda Monteiro, of Boston; Jay Manuel Rivera, of Lawrence; Norma Shulman, of Framingham; Teresa Walsh, of Medford; and Wayne Yeh, of Boston.
The 11 electors reflects the number of U.S. House and Senate seats each state has in Congress. Massachusetts has nine House seats and two Senate seats.
A livestream will be available on the Massachusetts Legislature's website.
The presidential election is a two-step process in the U.S.
Voters nationwide cast their ballots in November. The candidates receiving the most votes generally win that state’s electoral votes and receive that number of electors in the Electoral College.
Electors from each state then gather in December to officially vote for president and vice president. The candidates who receive a majority of the 538 votes in the Electoral College win.