NC Electoral College vote a ‘great honor’ for participants

Presidential electors of North Carolina's Electoral College gather to cast their votes at the State Capitol Building in Raleigh, N.C., Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

RALEIGH — The 58th Electoral College met on Monday, Dec. 14 to formally cast the votes for president and vice president. In Raleigh, electors for the state of North Carolina met at noon in the Old House Chamber at the State Capitol.

Johnathan Fletcher of Gaston County serves as an elector at the Electoral College in Raleigh. Photo via Johnathan Fletcher

The 15 electors were nominated at the N.C. Republican Party’s convention, which took place virtually in July. As President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence won the state in the 2020 general election, the party’s electors were called to Raleigh for the vote.

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NC has 15 electors, representing each congressional district and two at-large representing the state’s two senators. The electors were:

At Large — Michele A. Nix

At Large — Michael D. Whatley

First District — Thomas William Hill

Second District — Edwin L. Gavin II

Third District — Dave Wickersham

Fourth District — Angie Cutlip

Fifth District — Jonathan L. Fletcher

Sixth District — Tina Forsberg

Seventh District — Chauncey Lambeth

Eighth District — Susan Mills

Ninth District — Daniel Bradford Barry

Tenth District — Danny W. Overcash

Eleventh District — Mark Delk

Twelfth District — Melisa Bell Taylor

Thirteenth District — Blake E. Williams

N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall opened the Electoral College, and Delk, who lives in Asheville, was appointed to preside over the casting of votes.

Mills, a public-school teacher, said being of being an elector, “It just reinforced what our Founding Fathers established in the Constitution 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.” 

She also served as a teller, collecting the votes cast by the members.

Angie Cutlip of Wake County collects ballots at the Electoral College in Raleigh. Courtesy photo

“Being in the Old House Chamber of the State Capitol Building, knowing the history that has been made there and that was made yesterday is something I will never forget. 2020 made the ceremony a bit different from the past, but it also made it memorable. The chamber was not packed with dignitaries, but we were still made to feel special,” she added.

Guilford County’s Tina Forsberg said of the experience, “What a privilege to represent the citizens of the Sixth Congressional District and cast our state’s votes for President Trump and Vice President Pence. It is a solemn duty I pray will be similarly received and adjudicated next month in Congress. May God continue to bless this nation as we face whatever lies ahead.”

Both houses of Congress will meet in a special session on Jan. 6, 2021, for the formal reading and certification of the vote of the Electoral College.

About Matt Mercer 472 Articles
Matt Mercer is the editor in chief of North State Journal and can be reached at [email protected].