Massachusetts Electors Cast Votes For Biden-Harris

MASSACHUSETTS — A former high school classmate of President-elect Joe Biden is one of 11 people from Massachusetts who cast electoral votes Monday votes for Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Former Springfield mayor Robert Markel first met Biden when they were both freshmen at Archmere Academy, a Catholic high school in Delaware.

"I see the face I know so well, I hear the speech patterns and mannerisms and none of that has changed, other than his stutter is gone," Markel told the Boston Globe. "It gives you a certain strange feeling to see someone you know so well rising to this position."

While the Massachusetts vote was expected to be a surprise-free formality, the Electoral College is drawing more attention than usual in 2020 because of President Donald Trump's refusal to concede he lost the Nov. 3 election.

Markel and the other 10 electors were selected by the Massachusetts Democratic Party, and all the electors cast their votes for Biden and Harris when they met at the State House Monday afternoon. Electors across the country were expected to cast their votes throughout the day Monday, and Biden is expected to end the day with 306 votes — well above the 270 he needs to win.

The other electors included Kathleen Donaghue, Joseph F. Kelly, Nicole M. LaChapelle, Thomas J. Larkin, Linda Monteiro, Jay Manuel Rivera, Norma Shulman, Ronald R. Valerio, Teresa Walsh, and Wayne D. Yeh. The state Democratic Party named an alternate for Ronald R. Valerio, the 11th elector, who died unexpectedly last week.