Electoral College Meets--December 13, 2004

Electoral
College
Meets

Annapolis, Maryland
December 13, 2004

Maryland's 10 Electors -- [Top] Norman Conway, Delores Kelley, Lainy LeBow-Sachs and Pam Jackson.
[Bottom] Dorothy Chaney, John Riley, Wendy Fiedler, Daphne Bloomberg, Tom Perez and Gary Gensler.

As set out in Chapter 1 Title 3 § 7 of the United States Code, on "the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December" electors selected by the voters on Election Day met in the respective states to confirm the vote.

Maryland voters backed Sen. Kerry on November 2. Accordingly on December 13 at 11 a.m. the ten Kerry electors gathered at the State Capitol in Annapolis. Tom Perez, who had earlier been selected as President, described the gathering as "an important ritual of our democracy" and said it acknowledges the results of the election. Perez also spoke of his "bittersweet feeling" that Kerry had not prevailed nationally. Elector Lainy LeBow-Sachs was excited to be part of the historic event, although she too noted, "It'd be more excitng if I were voting for the person who became president." Elector Wendy Fiedler noted that she gets to vote for Kerry twice.

The job of elector mainly requires making a lot of signatures. Maryland's ten electors signed the Oath book, the Minutes book, seven Certificates of Vote, and seven envelopes. Two Certificates of Vote go to the Secretary of State, one to the President of the U.S. Senate (the Vice President), two to the National Archives, one to the U.S. District Court in Baltimore, and one to the State Board of Elections. The electors also signed some extras and there was a lot of unofficial signing of programs. Among those observing the event were 14 students from Broadneck High School.

Electors Delores Kelley and Lainy LeBow-Sachs signed programs before the meeting began.

[More Photos: a, b]

The electors are all people who have put significant work into the party. Maryland Democratic Party Chair Isiah Leggett had a significant voice in their selection.

Rep. Norman H. Conway - Member of the Maryland House of Delegates, first elected in Nov. 1986. Represents District 38B covering Wicomico and Worcester Counties. Conway worked as a teacher, vice-principal and principal at Pinehurst Elementary School, 1965-86. Supervisor, Chapter I programs, Wicomico County Board of Education, 1986-. (1st CD)

Sen. Delores G. Kelley - Member of the Maryland Senate, first elected in Nov. 1994. Represents District 10, Baltimore County. Previously served two terms in the House of Delegates. Member, Democratic State Central Committee, 1982-86. Secretary, Maryland Democratic Party, 1986-90. Platform Committee, Democratic National Committee, 1988. Member, Baltimore County Democratic Central Committee, 1995-. Kelley was appointed as an elector in 1988 but did not get to serve as George H.W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis. (2nd CD)

Lainy LeBow-Sachs - Senior Vice President for External Relations for Kennedy Krieger Institute. Worked for Mayor and Gov. William Donald Schaefer as Director of Scheduling and Public Relations, 1986-96 and as Appointment Secretary, 1979-86. Describes herself as "very active" in the Democratic Party. (3rd CD)

Pam Jackson - Vice President for Public Affairs at Capitol Associates, Inc., a government relations firm in Washington, DC. Member of the Montgomery County Democratic Committee. Assistant to Rep. Thomas P. ("Tip") O'Neill, Jr. including during his time as Majority Leader and Speaker, 1974-87. (4th CD)

Dorothy Chaney - Speech pathologist. Served on the Anne Arundel Democratic Central Committee, 1994-2002, including as chair. Delegate to the 2000 Democratic National Convention. From Lothian. (5th CD)

John T. Riley - Instructional Consultation Facilitator for the Alleghany County Board of Education. Worked in the state house of Gov. Glendening as education liaison. Delegate to the 2000 Democratic National Convention. (6th CD)

Wendy Fiedler - Special Assistant in the State's Attorney's Office in Ellicott City. Chair of the Howard County Democratic Central Committee for the past six years and just re-elected to another term. Attended the 2004 Democratic National Convention as a guest. (7th CD)

Daphne Bloomberg - Interior designer. After the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee asked for people interested to apply she submitted a 3-page resume of her activities since 1960, when, at age 17 she worked on John Kennedy's campaign in Boston. (8th CD)

Tom Perez - Elected to the Montgomery County Council in Nov. 2002; President of the Council since Dec. 7, 2004, making him the highest ranking Latino elected official in Maryland. Teaches at the University of Maryland School of Law. Director of the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of HHS during the last two years of the Clinton administration. Senior aide to Sen. Edward Kennedy. Federal prosecutor for six years. An attorney in United States Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division and worked up to become Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. (At-Large)

Gary Gensler - Treasurer of the Maryland Democratic Party. Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets at the Department of the Treasury during Clinton's second term, nominated June 1997. Partner at the investment banking firm of Goldman Sachs & Co., where he served as co-head of Finance worldwide, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in Asia, co-head of the Fixed Income Division in Tokyo, and head of the Media Group, Mergers and Acquisitions starting in 1984. (At-Large)

Maryland's Electors: Jackson, Conway, Kelley, Bloomberg, Perez, Gensler, Fiedler, Riley, LeBow-Sachs, Chaney.