Pennsylvania’s Electoral College convened in Harrisburg on Tuesday to cast votes for President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance.
“We come together for another free, fair and secure election in our great commonwealth,” Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said on the House floor on Capitol Hill.
Schmidt, who presided over the 60thvol Pennsylvania’s Electoral College meeting said it was worth noting that “Pennsylvania played a seminal role in creating the representative democracy we celebrate today.” Pennsylvania has participated in every electoral college since the first in 1789.
A week later, 19 electors from across Pennsylvania were present to vote for Trump and Vance Pennsylvania certified the results of the 2024 presidential election. Trump received 3,543,308 votes in Pennsylvania, or 50.37%, while Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democratic ticket, received 3,423,042 votes, or 48.66%.
The atmosphere was markedly different from four years ago, when the university met during the Covid-19 pandemic amid a strenuous effort by Republicans in Pennsylvania and elsewhere to reverse the election results won by President Joe Biden. After the 2020 election, Trump pressured Republicans across the country to object to the results, falsely claiming that the election was stolen. And in 2016 the protesters descended in the Electoral College of Pennsylvania appeals to voters to not vote for Trump who won the state.
“Pennsylvania is the cradle of our nation. Once again, we played a significant role in determining the outcome of this year’s race for the entire country,” said Lawrence Tabas, chairman of the Electoral College and head of the Pennsylvania Republican Party. “We really are a key state.”
Tabas spoke on behalf of Jim Worthington, a prominent Bucks County Republican who was slated to become president of the college but was unable to attend because he and his wife are awaiting the birth of their daughter.
Tabas called Trump’s victory “historic,” noting that it was just second time in history United States that the President was elected to a second non-consecutive term. Tabas also said the president-elect is committed to working for all Americans and said he will work to ensure that “our streets and neighborhoods are safe, our borders are secure, our economy is prosperous for all Americans” and “reduces inflation , raise domestic energy production so we have access to affordable energy, and eliminate wasteful government spending and unnecessary regulation.”
Tabas also noted that Trump won the popular vote, marking the first time a GOP candidate has done so since 2004.
Pat Poprik, chairman of the Bucks County Republican Committee and vice chairman of Pennsylvania’s Electoral College, on Tuesday called “doing this very important job” “such a very important job” and defended the role of the Electoral College. Was growing criticism institutions for sometimes thwarting the will of the majority of voters across the country. Both President George W. Bush (in 2000) and Trump (in 2016) became president despite losing the popular vote.
“It’s something that has endured all these years and something that we need to continue,” Poprik said, adding that they said “that the Electoral College should go away and let the popular vote prevail. And I tell you: I will fight this as long as I breathe.
Poprik belonged to the so-called alternative voter list four years ago, who faced criticism after reporting their names as electors in Pennsylvania in December 2020 and casting votes for then-President Trump even though Joe Biden won the state’s popular vote. “It would be a popular vote in which the substantial countries would decide and no one else would have a say. That’s why what we are doing today is so critical for this country and our constitution,” Poprik said on Tuesday.
According to Tabas, Gov. Josh Shapiro was scheduled to speak, but was unable to attend due to weather conditions that forced his plane from Philadelphia to land in Lancaster.
Schmidt made the remarks on Shapiro’s behalf.
“While we are obviously here today to celebrate the election of your nominee, Donald Trump, I hope you also appreciate that your presence today continues a long tradition in the Commonwealth, a tradition of self-government, of charting our own course into the future,” Schmidt said.
Shapiro was an elector in the 2008, 2012 and 2020 elections and placed his ballot in the same ballot box, Schmidt said during remarks on behalf of the governor.
Four years ago the electors gathered in the Harrisburg auditorium near the state Capitol voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Pennsylvania’s electoral college votes will be counted along with the other states’ votes during a joint session of Congress on January 6. Trump will take the oath of office on January 20 at noon.