First Indian-American Presidential Elector in Georgia
On December 13, members of the Georgia Electoral College met to cast their votes as Presidential electors. While this is a routine occurrence every four years, this was the first time ever an Indian-American was a one of the members of this elite group. Narender Reddy, a Republican activist and Vice Chairman of the Georgia Bush-Cheney Campaign 2004, was the one bestowed this honor. Georgia has 15 electoral college votes, one for each Congressional district and 2 U.S. Senate seats.
The day started at a breakfast meeting of all the Electoral College members at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Atlanta.���The Georgia GOP Chairman, Mr. Alec Poitevint, in his welcome address spoke about each Presidential elector's contributions to the party and thanked them for their services. He fondly recalled Reddy's earlier speech delivered at the State Republican Convention on May 15th and acknowledged his contributions to the State Republican Party and specially towards the massive victory for President Bush in Georgia.���All the electors were given an opportunity to speak.
Reddy spoke about the honor bestowed upon him, an immigrant from India; and acknowledged it as an honor for the Indian-American community. He recalled his studying U.S. Constitutional Law at the Law School in Hyderabad, India. He said that it was the first time he had learnt about the Electoral College. Reddy admitted that he had never dreamt that one day he would be part of it.
Later, the members went to the State Capitol where they were received by Governor Sonny Perdue and seated in the chambers of House of Representatives. The meeting started as each of the members signed their ballot separately for President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney amidst the glare of TV cameras and Press.
In the evening all the Presidential electors were invited by Governor Perdue for a dinner reception at the Governor's mansion. Speaking about the dinner reception, Reddy said, "Though this was not my first dinner at the Governor's mansion, I did enjoy this occasion as the mansion was decorated with Christmas lights and ornaments, and was just beautiful."
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