Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2024 September 28

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September 28

Previous voting mode of the electoral College of the state of Georgia

As of 2020, the system has changed. But until 2016, how was the vote cast? Did one have to write the names of the candidates (president and vice president) on the ballot? Thank you. Andreoto (talk) 08:43, 28 September 2024 (UTC)

I've noticed a few of these questions. Federal documents are publicly avaialble. This is the 2016 electoral vote for Georgia. In each question, assuming you are the one asking over and over, you ask if they write down the names. All they did here was sign a shared document that was hand delivered to Congress. 12.116.29.106 (talk) 12:44, 28 September 2024 (UTC)

Yes, it was always me. I'm an “enthusiast” of the American Electoral College, in this case I'm intrigued by the way the Electors cast their votes. Those are the certificates, of course, but first they vote obviously in two separate ballots. Voting can be done in different ways, the mode changes from state to state, but you always vote on ballots. Voting can consist of putting a signature, writing a name, checking a box etc. That's what I meant. Thank you very much for your helpfulness and responses. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Andreoto (talk • contribs) 18:36, 28 September 2024 (UTC)

I can give second-hand account of what it is like to vote as an elector. My father was an elector in 1984 for Missouri because he was high up in the machinists union and they publicly backed Reagan in both 1980 and 1984. He drove down to Jefferson City. The group met in a conference room in the Capitol Building. They were sworn in and then a bunch of hoopla. Then, they sat at a long table. A stack of pre-printed papers were passed down. Each elector had a box of pens. They used a separate pen for each paper. It was the same document, a vote for Reagan and Bush. He said there were about 20 copies of it total. Then, they were asked to sign a small card with just their name, not everyone's name on it. That was given to them with a pair of pens as proof they were electors. There were snacks and they were sent on their way. At no time did he secretly write down names on a stub of paper and slip it into a secret ballot. All he did was sign his name on a pre-printed collective vote over and over. He didn't go to Washington DC. He didn't vote there. Missouri sent at least one of the collectively signed documents to Federal Congress to announce their electoral votes. My opinion is that Missouri is not weird in how they did it. I expect most states operate in a very similar manner. 12.116.29.106 (talk) 16:38, 30 September 2024 (UTC)

Thank you so much for your testimony and for sharing this family memory with me. I read you with pleasure. Thank you again for your answers which I found very helpful. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Andreoto (talk • contribs) 18:24, 30 September 2024 (UTC)