CdA woman makes history a different way

BOISE – Idaho experienced a historic first Monday – one of its official presidential electors had to be replaced at the last minute, just before the state’s four votes in the Electoral College were cast.

Sandy Patano of Coeur d’Alene, state director for U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, was supposed to cast one of those votes, but instead, she withdrew, citing concerns about a possible legal conflict between her job and her role as an elector.

Ellen Jaeger of Coeur d’Alene was the last-minute replacement.

Patano said in a letter to Secretary of State Ben Ysursa that she had discovered a possible problem: According to the U.S. Constitution, no one “holding an office of trust or profit under the United States” may be an elector.

Patano is a federal employee. That may or may not violate the constitutional requirement, she said in her letter, but “to ensure there is no possible conflict, and out of respect for the electoral process, President Bush, Senator Craig, Idaho and our nation, I have decided to exercise an abundance of caution.”

Ysursa said, “This is the first time in my memory that we’ve had to fill a vacancy with the electors, but the statute provides a process for it, there’s a way to do it and this is what we’re doing right now.”

With the other three Republican electors – former longtime Secretary of State Pete Cenarrusa, state Rep. Debbie Field and former state Sen. John Sandy – assembled in the governor’s office with Ysursa and Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, the three electors filled out formal ballots to certify Jaeger as Patano’s replacement.

Then Jaeger joined them at the table to cast Idaho’s votes in the presidential election.

Kempthorne said, “It’s never been fully clarified, but rather than cause what may be a challenge, Sandy graciously chose not to be here today.”

Jaeger said she had been contacted by state Republican Chairman Kirk Sullivan a week to 10 days ago about stepping in as an elector. “I was surprised, and I was very honored and humbled,” she said. “I appreciate the process, and I think the process does work.”

In the November presidential election, President Bush won 68 percent of Idaho’s votes. Under Idaho’s winner-take-all system, all four of the state’s electoral votes went to the electors of Bush’s party.

It was no surprise when all four electors, including Jaeger, cast their ballots for Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Idaho’s electoral votes have gone to the Republican in every presidential election since 1952 with just one exception – when Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson won 51 percent of the state’s vote in 1964.

State House Minority Leader Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, said last month she plans to introduce legislation to revise Idaho’s winner-take-all system and allot the state’s four electoral votes proportionally. That would give more voters a sense that their votes count, she said.

However, the officials gathered for the electoral voting Monday said they like the current system. “Four votes can absolutely make a difference in the Electoral College,” Kempthorne said.

Cenarrusa said, “I believe in the Electoral College, and I believe it is good for the state of Idaho and for states that are populated such as Idaho – with a small population.”

When a TV reporter interjected, “Oh, I thought you meant (populated) with Republicans,” Ysursa couldn’t restrain a yelp of laughter.

Presidential electors for each party with a presidential candidate on the ballot are designated by the party. If a Democrat, Libertarian or Constitution Party candidate had won the vote in Idaho, that party’s slate of electors would have cast Idaho’s electoral votes.

The official ballot casting Idaho’s electoral votes is en route to Washington, D.C., where it, with other states’ electoral votes, will be counted on Jan. 6 in a joint session of Congress.

After the paperwork had been filled out, Kemp-thorne said, “I commend all electors for the role in history which you have now played.”

Patano said in her letter that she was unsure whether her job conflicted with serving as an elector, but “I can see how some may interpret it that way.”

She added, “While I would never let my position working for Senator Craig affect my actions as an elector, I believe it is important for the presidential electoral process to maintain the highest possible level of integrity.”