DENVER — Wellington Webb, Denver’s only black mayor, calls it the honor of a lifetime to be one of the few whose votes for president are actually counted by Congress.
But Webb, one of Colorado’s nine Democratic electors who will cast ballots at the state Capitol Monday, has been getting not just well-wishes from friends and family about the honor. He’s received dozens of letters from citizens who don’t want him to cast his vote for President-elect Barack Obama.
“Oh, I’ve gotten at least 30 or 40, maybe more,” Webb marveled, a little surprised at the letters, which argue that Obama may not have been born in Hawaii but overseas, making him ineligible for the presidency.
It’s a claim that has been roundly debunked, even by Obama’s opponents. But the letters have added an unusual wrinkle to what usually is a ceremonial photo op, the formal casting of Colorado’s nine electoral votes.
After Gov. Bill Ritter’s office forwards the votes to Congress, Obama will become only the third Democrat since 1948 to win Colorado’s presidential vote. After Congress counts the votes in January, Obama will become the nation’s first black president.
“To be a part of history, it’s something I take very seriously,” Webb said.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a claim from a New Jersey man that Obama isn’t a natural-born citizen, as required by the Constitution. At least two other federal courts have rejected similar claims, citing birth records that show Obama was born in Hawaii.
The Obama opponents writing to Colorado electors wrongly believe they’re free to choose another candidate for president. State law forbids them from choosing anyone but the winner of the Nov. 4 election.
Both parties choose nine electors — one for each of Colorado’s seven congressional districts and two representing the entire state. Then the winning party’s electors travel to Denver for the Electoral College vote.
This year’s electors were chosen at the Democratic Party’s state convention last summer. None has served as an elector before; the last time Democrats prevailed in a Colorado presidential race was 1992.
“I thought it sounded neat. It’s an experience few will have in their lifetimes,” said Pam Shaddock, a Greeley City Council member who will represent the 4th Congressional District.
A retired junior-high civics teacher, Shaddock concedes she had to brush up on the Electoral College when she decided to vie for the post.
“I used to be a government teacher long ago, but I still had to go online and read about how it works,” Shaddock said with a laugh.
Shaddock says the Electoral College still plays an important role in American government, even though some see it as better suited to an earlier era, when a national popular vote was too difficult to take.
“If all we did was vote by population, then candidates would spend all their time on the coasts and in Texas and Ohio and Illinois,” Shaddock said.
Others among the chosen few do wonder whether the practice is outdated.
“I think that perhaps the (Electoral College) has outgrown itself,” said Polly Baca of Denver, a former state lawmaker and an at-large elector.
“Maybe being an elector I shouldn’t say that, but I truly do believe in the popular vote.”
