Federal worker steps aside as would-be Arkansas elector

WASHINGTON — J. D. McGehee’s status as a federal employee interfered with his ability to serve as one of President Donald Trump’s six Arkansas electors.

So he stepped aside and let an alternate vote instead.

The Hot Springs resident is hardly alone in this regard. A Texas Republican elector, for example, withdrew four years ago for the same reason.

And in Idaho, federal employees have been replaced as Republican electors in at least two recent presidential elections: 2004 and 2016.

Under Article II, Section 1, Clause 2, of the U.S. Constitution,

no “Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States shall be appointed an Elector.” McGehee, who serves as U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman’s district director, is a federal employee.

That language has been interpreted, by some, to prohibit federal employees from serving as electors.

When the electoral votes are counted during a special joint session of Congress this week, Republicans won’t have to worry about a challenge to McGehee.

Republican officials prefer not to take any chances.

They learned, the hard way, that these types of electoral disputes can cause problems in a close election.

In 1876, Oregon’s governor disqualified one of the state’s Republican electors, arguing that John W. Watts’ status as a low-ranking local postal official had rendered him ineligible to serve. (The post office was a federal agency at the time.)

The governor, a Democrat, picked a member of his own party to replace Watts.

Eventually, an electoral commission decided that Republicans were entitled to the contested Oregon electoral vote (as well as the disputed votes from South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana).

Republican Rutherford B. Hayes ultimately won the presidency with 185 electoral votes; Democrat Samuel Tilden, who led in the popular vote, finished with 184.

McGehee said he received conflicting opinions about his eligibility to serve.

Rather than risk a challenge, he let another Republican vote instead.

“I didn’t want to do anything that would be problematic for the certification of our state. I didn’t want to do anything that would cause

anything to be in question,” he said.

Doyle Webb, a former Republican Party of Arkansas chairman and a fellow elector, said McGehee had made the decision out of an abundance of caution and praised his handling of the situation.

“He’s a great individual and a great team player,” Webb said.

Rather than participating in history, McGehee witnessed it instead, attending the state Capitol ceremony as a guest.

“I’m 39 years old, and I’ve got a lot of time left. There’ll be more opportunities, hopefully, in the future to come.

But I’m going to put the state first and put Arkansas first. … That’s why I’m withdrawing,” he told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Even though he wasn’t able to cast one of the state’s six electoral votes, McGehee said 2020 was “a big political year” that he’ll long remember.

He served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., in August and attended Trump’s acceptance speech at the White House.

“[As] a kid from the Delta, it’s just amazing to have had all these opportunities” in 2020, he said.