Iowa Teenager Might Be Youngest Elector



Columbia (MO) Daily Tribune



DES
MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Kiran Patel is working at a fast-food restaurant
this summer to pay for her freshman year of college, but she could have
a much bigger job by winter: deciding who wears the title “President of
the United States.”



The
teenager from Cedar Rapids is one of the youngest members ever of the
Electoral College, elected in April just days after her 18th birthday.
She gave out homemade coloring books during a campaign that led her to
victory over seven others. Seats in the Electoral College, which elects
the president, usually go to longtime party activists.



Patel,
who graduated from Kennedy High School earlier this month, acknowledged
that some of her colleagues were reluctant to appoint someone so young.
But she insisted there was no need to worry.



“I have
been in the Democratic Party for over 70 percent of my life and, being
18, my future, at least politically, is within the party,” she said.
“If I go rogue on them or don’t show up, then I’ve just kind of thrown
myself out of the party.”



Each
state has a certain number of votes in the Electoral College, equal to
the size of its congressional delegation. Iowa has seven votes, and
Patel is one of seven Democratic electors. There also are seven
Republican electors.



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