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Washington electors cast and certify 12 votes for Harris, Walz
Summary
Washington’s 12 presidential electors met in Olympia, cast 12 votes for Democratic nominees Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, and signed certificates of vote that will be transmitted to Congress and the Archivist of the United States. Electors offered brief remarks on voting rights, tribal history and the electoral college's future.
Secretary Hobbs, presiding as Washington’s secretary of state, opened the state’s 30th convening of the Electoral College and presented the certified results of the 2024 general election to the electors in the state senate chambers in Olympia.
"Despite misinformation and unprecedented threats to our democracy, we saw a record number of voter registrations and engagements leading up to election day," Secretary Hobbs said, and he thanked county election workers across all 39 counties and federal partners for supporting safe and secure elections.
Gov. Jay Inslee, introduced by Hobbs, praised election staff and warned that the events of Jan. 6, 2021, were a reminder of democracy’s fragility. "You can't overstate how important this moment," Gov. Inslee said, urging electors to continue defending democratic institutions.
Following roll call, electors completed ballots for president and vice president. Secretary Hobbs read the results aloud: a tally of 12 votes for Kamala Harris for president and 12 votes for Tim Walz for vice president. He said election staff would prepare six signed copies of the certificates of vote; those copies will be sent to the president of the U.S. Senate, the Archivist of the United States and retained as public records as required by law.
Several electors used their brief remarks to reflect on voting rights and representation. Lona Wilbur (Swinomish) recounted tribal history and the 1855 treaties, noting the late extension of voting rights to Native people in Washington state. "We received the right to vote in 1958," Wilbur said, and thanked community members who worked to expand participation.
Tara Gallagher, the elector from the 7th Congressional District, cast her vote as pledged and used her remarks to call for reform: "I think we should abolish the electoral college," she said, arguing the system creates unequal representation among states and skews campaigning to swing states.
Justin Cammarata, an at-large elector, said the electoral college was created in part as a mechanism that resulted in disenfranchisement and urged ongoing reform while acknowledging the honor of participating in the constitutional process.
Secretary Hobbs described the legal and administrative steps for transmitting the certificates. He said one copy will be sent to the president of the U.S. Senate and others to the Archivist of the United States and to the federal district court in Seattle, with final copies retained by the secretary of state’s office. He noted that the president of the Senate will open the official envelope in Congress and that the list of votes will be entered in the journals of the House and Senate.
After electors signed the certificates and posed for a photograph, Hobbs adjourned the meeting. The certificates of vote are scheduled to be delivered to federal authorities as part of the statutory process for certifying the electoral vote.
