Governor Kaine Addresses Virginia Electoral College

Governor Kaine Addresses Virginia Electoral College

Governor Timothy M. Kaine today addressed the Virginia Electoral College. Below are his prepared remarks.

"Good afternoon. Today is an important day for Virginia and for our Nation and I am glad to be with you.

We meet in the Capitol of Virginia. This building was designed by Thomas Jefferson, a Virginia Governor and U.S. President who wrote into the Declaration of Independence the great truth that all are created equal. Another President who once visited this building, Abraham Lincoln, declared that Jefferson's simple words were the single proposition on which our nation was founded. Jefferson designed this Capitol to embody that truth and serve as a Temple of Democracy, sitting on a hill, bright and visible to all.

This building is the home of the Virginia General Assembly that first met on Jamestown Island in 1619. On that same tiny island, in that same year, Africans were brought to North America in servitude for the first time.

In this building, and on this day December 15th, the General Assembly ratified the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution in 1791. The Virginia vote meant that enough states had ratified the Bill of Rights so that it would become part of our Constitution. So, December 15th is celebrated as Bill of Rights Day.

For a time, this building was the Capitol of the Confederate States of America, the federal legislature of a nation formed in part to preserve the institution of slavery.

This building was the seat of efforts to write a state constitution in 1902 to disenfranchise Virginians of African descent who had obtained political rights during Reconstruction. It also served as the forum for designing legal strategies of massive resistance to oppose the integration of schools and other public facilities in the 1950's.

But, this building also witnessed an inauguration in 1970 where a Governor pledged to make Virginia a "model of race relations." It saw the writing of a new state constitution guaranteeing the equality of all and the passage of the first fair housing law in the South. And, it was here that the grandson of a slave was inaugurated as Governor in 1990, declaring himself proudly a "son of Virginia."

Today, this building is home to another historic occasion—the meeting of presidential electors to cast Virginia's electoral votes for Barack Obama and Joseph Biden as President and Vice-President of the United States. Each such election is important, but today, in a special way, we celebrate the slow but steady maturation of the noble human project begun on Jamestown Island 401 years ago. We rejoice in the moral power that has bent institutions, traditions, behavior and hearts ever closer to the equality principle. And, we proclaim our pride in Virginia's role as a leader among the states.

Your role in this historic election makes you part of a grand tradition. The Founding Fathers created the college of electors as a compromise between election of the president by popular vote and appointment by the Senate. It was based on systems used in the Holy Roman Empire.

Nearly 700 Constitutional amendments pertaining to the Electoral College have been proposed by Congress since our Constitution was drafted, but the system has not changed in any notable way. The number of electoral votes a state has is determined by how many U.S. House Representatives and Senators it has. If no candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives selects the president, and the Senate selects the vice president.

Two Presidents have been elected by the House of Representatives because no one received a majority of electoral votes--Thomas Jefferson in 1800 and John Quincy Adams in 1824.

Only one vice president was elected by the Senate. In 1836, the Virginia electors refused to vote for Richard Johnson as vice president to Martin Van Buren so he didn't receive a majority of electoral votes. That problem has been fixed. Now, under state law, you electors must vote for the candidate to which you are pledged or face legal penalties. I am sure I didn't have to remind you of that!

Each of you is here because you embrace your civic duties in this democracy. You come from all parts of the state and from all walks of life and you stand as trusted representatives of the 3.7 million Virginians who voted on November 4. More people participated in this presidential election than in any other in our nation's history. Young people voted in record numbers. People of all ages - from 18 to 100 - voted this year for the first time. Whatever our political views, today we sense that our democracy is reinvigorated, that we have both the right and the obligation to participate, and that our destiny is of our own making.

There is no problem facing us that cannot be overcome if the great reservoir of talent in Virginia and America is fully engaged. Our successes and failures have always depended upon whether we allow all to bring their talents to serve our nation. This election demonstrates again the power of Jefferson's truth and the ever-growing commitment of Americans to welcome all to the blessings and responsibilities of complete and equal citizenship.

God bless each of you, God bless our new President and Vice-President, and God bless our Commonwealth and Country."

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