On the surface, it’s just a piece of paper and a writing utensil.
But it means so much more for a 44-year-old disabled veteran from Duluth.
Joel Heller is in St. Paul, where over Monday’s noontime hour he votes for President of the United States.
It’s not a late absentee ballot. It carries much more weight.
For the first time, Heller is one of Minnesota’s ten electors who’ll cast the electoral college votes and officially put a stamp on the 2020 election.
“It’s pretty cool, isn’t it,” Heller told Cory Hepola on the WCCO Morning News, hours before he cast his ballot at the state capitol building.
“It’s just like a surreal moment here, this is, like, historic,” he said. “I hope you realize just how historic this is.”
Each of Minnesota’s eight congressional districts help select the state’s electoral voters, choosing a delegate and an alternate.
Heller comes out of the eighth district in northeastern Minnesota.
Casting electoral college votes, purely American, has been done every four years with little fanfare. The intense campaign and scrutiny of the balloting has increased the attention.
It started when Heller arrived in St. Paul on Sunday to take an oath, with Secretary of State Steve Simon acting on behalf of the governor when the Monday meeting begins.
“They’ll hand out the ten ballots to the electors, and I’ll look down and see history right there,” he said. “And then cast the vote for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Under Minnesota state law, the electors must vote for the ticket that garnered the most votes in the popular balloting.
Tagging along is Heller’s 14-year-old son, decked out in a bow tie and anxious to see the process that his father hopes will grow less acrimonious over time.”
“I look at my son and say, okay, there’s hope there,” he said. “Just because we disagree doesn’t mean that we’re all bad people. I hope my son will bridge that gap.”