Oklahoma electors quietly cast ballots for Trump

Trump’s refusal to acknowledge defeat in the Nov. 3 general election has caused more than the usual attention to the voting electors, just as it did in 2016 when some anti-Trump Republicans urged electors to cast their ballots for someone other than him, but there was really no doubt about the outcome of Monday’s meeting of electors and alternates at the Oklahoma Capitol.

Oklahoma’s electors, like those of most states, are required by law to cast their ballots for the winner of the state’s popular vote.

The closest thing to news during the ceremony was Gov. Kevin Stitt answering “yes” when asked by a reporter if he acknowledged that Democrat Joe Biden won the presidential election nationally. He thus became one of the state’s first Republican leaders to do so.

Oklahoma’s seven electors, including Ronda Vuillemont-Smith of Broken Arrow, each signed six copies of the document certifying the state’s electoral votes and the six envelopes containing them.

Two of the copies remain with the Oklahoma Secretary of State’s Office, two are sent to the national archivist, one is sent to Vice President Mike Pence as president of the U.S. Senate and one is sent to the presiding U.S. District judge in Oklahoma City.

The process was mostly silent, except for a joke about “left-wing” elector A.J. Ferate, who is left-handed.

The electors, all Republicans representing the state’s five congressional districts and two U.S. senators, were Vuillemont-Smith, Ferate of Oklahoma City, Lonnie Lu Anderson of Crowder, Chris Martin of Yukon, Steve Fair of Duncan, Linda Huggard of Oklahoma City and Carolyn McLarty of Stillwater.

Video: Electoral College explainer

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