Electoral College Freshman Ready for Test

Several weeks ago, attorney Steve Bolinger was sitting in his Anaheim office with Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. They were about to hit the pavement for some door-to-door campaigning when Sanchez popped the question.

“How’d you like to be a member of the Electoral College?” she asked.

Well, you could have knocked Bolinger over with a one-page reply brief.

“I kind of laughed,” Bolinger says. “And said something like, ‘Do I have to take a test to get in?’ I think I asked her what the tuition was.”

Sanchez wasn’t kidding.

She was offering Bolinger the chance of a quadrennium: to become one of those faceless, nameless ghosts the rest of us talk about once every four years, but don’t really know exist.

Until this year, that is. This year, everybody is talking about the Electoral College, trying to find out where it is, how you get in and what the professors are like.

The college is a hot topic because it’s possible that Bush or Gore could win the nationwide popular vote but not get a majority of votes in the Electoral College.

That puts a lot of pressure on people like Bolinger, so I wanted to see how he was holding up. After having a Coke with him in a Fountain Valley restaurant Friday afternoon, I can report he’s doing fine.

If, like me, you’ve never met an elector, let me describe Bolinger. He’s 53, about 6 feet 1, 240 pounds, and married. He grew up in Tulsa, Okla., in a Democratic household and came to California to attend USC, from which he graduated in 1970. He’s lived in Orange County since 1976 and specializes in personal injury, civil rights and criminal defense law.

As a history buff and political campaign volunteer, Bolinger knew about the college.

Sort of.

“I’ve always followed the Electoral College count,” Bolinger says. “A long time ago, at some point, I’m sure I wondered where these people came from who vote.”

If Al Gore and Joe Lieberman carry California on Tuesday, Bolinger will find out, because he’ll be one of California’s 54 members of the Electoral College class of 2000.

Come Dec. 18, Bolinger would go to Sacramento and cast a vote for president and vice president.

Electors Can Vote for Any Candidate

Bolinger isn’t taking his role lightly. “I see it as a solemn duty, because there is the possibility I could vote for someone else [other than Gore, to whom he’s pledged].”

Now, before state Democratic Party people spit out their morning coffee, Bolinger only means neither he nor any other elector is legally required to vote for the candidate to whom they’re pledged. Bolinger quickly says, however, he can’t picture a scenario in which he wouldn’t cast his Electoral College vote for Gore.

What state party leaders wouldn’t want Electoral College members to know is that there’s no punishment for switching their votes--except for the cold stares and public ostracism that would follow them the rest of their lives.

In California, the two major party candidates from each U.S. Senate and House race designate an elector, giving Republicans and Democrats a slate of 54 each. If Gore wins in California, the Democrat slate becomes the electors. If Bush wins, the Republican designees go to Sacramento.

By Dec. 18, of course, all Electoral College members will know whether Bush or Gore won the nationwide popular vote.

Bolinger says he wouldn’t feel sheepish casting his Electoral College vote for Gore--and possibly helping him win the presidency--if Bush lost California, but won the national popular vote.

“I’m backing the will of the people of California,” he says. “That’s who I’ll be representing. This is the way the Constitution is set up. I know there will be people complaining about it [if Bush wins the popular vote but not the Electoral College vote] and will want to change it, but it will take a constitutional amendment.”

For now, Bolinger isn’t worrying. He’s not even sure how things unfold on the 18th (“I would hope they feed us. I think they might”).

Bob Mulholland, spokesman for the California Democratic Party and an Electoral College member in 1996, says the proceeding takes about an hour. The electors cast separate votes for president and vice president, with the governor overseeing the process.

Mulholland says the occasion is both solemn and festive, with families in attendance and cameras flashing all around when it’s over--much like the mood at swearing-in ceremonies for new citizens.

With Gore thought to have the edge in California, Bolinger likely will get his 60 minutes of political fame.

“This is something that’s in the Constitution that individual citizens get to actually participate in,” he says. “I think that’s fantastic. I’m thrilled.”

As we part in the restaurant parking lot, I tell him, “I’m jealous.”

He just smiles. “I’ll send you a postcard,” he calls back.

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Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821 or by e-mail at dana.parsons@latimes.com.