The Elector Among Us: Bedford’s Tom Larkin to Cast an Official Vote for the President of the United States

Bedford’s Tom Larkin is among the 538 electors who will officially elect the next President of the United States.

Larkin was chosen by the Massachusetts Democratic Party to represent the Commonwealth at the Electoral College on December 14. Massachusetts is a “winner take all state” where all electors are chosen by the prevailing party. When he confirmed his selection, Larkin said, “I am honored to have been selected by my colleagues on the Democratic State Committee to the Electoral College.”

On December 14, Massachusetts’s Electors will be sworn in by Governor Baker, then elect a presiding officer and a secretary. The number of electors is determined by each state’s  Representatives in Congress plus its two Senators.

The Massachusetts Democratic State Committee elected 11 men and women to serve. (Under the Party rules men and women must be represented in equal numbers.) Each elector signs a document committing to vote according to the decision of the electorate.

Normally the Electors would gather at the State House to cast their votes and remain for a celebration.  Larkin speculated that in this time of pandemic they might have to do it by Zoom or another virtual platform.

“It will be a privilege to cast an Electoral Vote in December on behalf of the Massachusetts voters to elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris” Larkin commented. “Those Electoral Votes will  formally elect our President and Vice President in the House of Representatives in January.”

After the election results are certified, the votes from each state are sent to the US Congress by January 6, 2021, when a joint session meets to count the votes. With that action, the next President of the United State is elected.’’

Larkin is 84 years old and has been on the Democratic State Committee since 1984.

An educator and licensed psychologist, Larkin’s public service includes terms on the Bedford School Committee, the Massachusetts Disability Council, and as a Middlesex County Commissioner. He is a founder and long time chair of 3^rd MAD (Middlesex Area Democrats) and a founder of GLAD, an advocacy organization for the GLBTQ community. He graduated from Cambridge High and Latin School; Salem State College, (B.Ed.); Boston State College (M.Ed.); and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.