Watch Live: FL Electoral College Casts Vote For President
FLORIDA — When the Electoral College meets Monday, electors from each state will cast their votes for president based on their state’s election results. In Florida, 29 Republican electors are committed to casting their vote for Pres. Donald Trump.
Though Joe Biden is the country’s president-elect following the 2020 presidential election, Trump won Florida, earning 51 percent of votes cast.
Biden won 306 electoral votes in the national election while Trump won 232. To win the presidency, 270 electoral votes are required.
Florida’s electors will present their votes at 2 p.m. from the state capitol in Tallahassee. A live stream of the event will be available on The Florida Channel and also on C-SPAN.
Among the state’s 29 electors are:
Maixmo Alvarez, a Cuban immigrant who spoke at the Republican National Convention
John Browning, former member of the St. Johns River Water Management District
Marili Cancio, attorney
Nelson Diaz, chair of the Miami-Dade Republican Party
Peter Feaman, attorney and member of the Republican National Committee
state Rep. Randy Fine of Palm Bay
state Rep. Jason Fischer of Jacksonville
Charlotte Flynt, Republican state committee woman for Walton County
Joe Gruters, the Florida GOP chair and a state senator from Sarasota
Roy Hinman, founder of Island Doctors in St. Augustine
James Holton, a real estate and transportation attorney
Marva Johnson, 2020 Republican National Committee Host Committee member
Belinda Keiser, Keiser University vice chancellor
Kathleen King, national committee woman for the Republican Party
JC Martin, chair of the Polk County Republican Party
Patrick Neal, a Southwest Florida developer and former state senator who served as a Democrat
state Sen. Kathleen Passidomo of Naples
state Rep. Daniel Perez of Miami
state Sen. Keith Perry of Gainesville
Miami entrepreneur Moshe Popack
Diane Scherff, president of the Trump Club of St. Johns County
Frank Schwerin, former chair of the Collier County Republican Executive Committee
incoming state House, Rep. Chris Sprowls of Palm Harbor
Linda Stoch, member of the Governor’s Mansion Commission
Osceola realtor Tim Weisheyer
Sarasota County Commissioner Christian Ziegler
Wilton Simpson, the incoming state senate president from Trilby, was supposed to participate as an elector but tested positive for COVID-19 Sunday night, CNN reported. Gay Gaines, a South Florida Republican activist, and Jeffrey Feingold, founder of MCNA Dental Plans, cancelled their participation a week before the Electoral College meeting, Florida Politics reported. An alternate elector will replace all three.
The Electoral College vote takes place after weeks of Trump and other Republicans attempting to overturn Biden’s win. Their latest failure to do so was a lawsuit, which was led by Texas and involved 17 additional states, including Florida. The lawsuit argued that the presidential race results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – which were all key to Biden’s win – were impacted by “voting irregularities,” and asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. The case was dismissed on Friday.
The Electoral College is comprised of 538 voters. Each voter pledges to cast their vote based on the outcome of the presidential election in their state or territory. Florida is one of 29 states, as well as the District of Columbia, that legally requires its electors to cast their vote for the candidate that wins the statewide popular vote.
Following Monday’s Electoral College meeting, Vice President Mike Pence will formally count the votes at a special joint session of U.S. Congress on Jan. 6. After this, Biden will be formally inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States on Jan. 20.
This article originally appeared on the Sarasota Patch