NC’s 16 electors officially go to Trump as debates continue over America’s Electoral College system

North Carolina’s 16 Electoral College votes were officially cast for Donald Trump on Tuesday after state electors met at noon in the Capitol to represent the preference of the state’s voters in the 2024 presidential election. While voters cast their ballots on November 6, they were, in fact, voting for electors who are tasked with formally voting for the president, as required by the US Constitution.

The Electoral College system mandates that each state appoint electors equal to its total number of senators and representatives in Congress. The electors meet to vote based on their state’s popular vote. In North Carolina, where Trump won the popular vote, all the electors were Republican and voted accordingly.

Marking the 59th meeting of the Electoral College in North Carolina’s history, the electors similarly gathered in state capitals across the country on December 17 as part of the process that takes place every four years.

Thomas Glendinning represented North Carolina’s 4th District as an elector, and Michael Magnanti, chairman of the Granville County Republican Party, served as the 13th District’s elector after being selected at the NCGOP’s District Convention. They called it an honor to participate in the process when discussing the Electoral College system with high school students on Wednesday.

“When you go to vote on Election Day, you’re actually voting for the electors, you’re not voting for the President,” explained Magnanti. “But now this group of people is actually voting for the President and Vice President, and so the magnitude of that – that’s what I was really thinking. I was like ‘wow, this is really happening.’”

A push to abolish the Electoral College surfaced in Washington one day prior tot he Electors casting their decisive votes. Democrats in the US Senate introduced a constitutional amendment that would replace the Electoral College with a national popular vote system.

Bill sponsors said it’s time to “restore democracy” by replacing the Electoral College with a popular vote.

Rep. Erin Paré, R-Wake, defended the Electoral College in front of students on Wednesday, calling it a safeguard against radicalism.

“When I think of the value of the Electoral College, I think it’s a tool to reject radicalism,” said Paré. “So if you’re going to be the President of the United States, and you think that you can win president by only speaking to maybe hardcore socialists or liberals or Democrats only, or urban concentrated areas that almost always vote Democrat all the time – where’s the representation for other people?”

Connecting the representative system to her own constituency, Paré explained her district’s diverse political makeup—being one-third Democrat, one-third Republican, and one-third unaffiliated. She questioned the effectiveness of catering to only one faction of voters and said the country should not have leaders elected nationwide who only think they need to speak to one portion of the electorates.

With the Electoral College votes officially cast, all formal hurdles have been cleared for President-elect Donald Trump to once again assume the Oval Office in January.

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