Oberndorfer and his fellow California electors gathered Monday, Dec. 18, at the state Capitol in Sacramento. They met first in the office of Gov. Gray Davis where they signed numerous documents "pertaining to our oath to vote for the designated party candidates" then had lunch at Frank Fats Restaurant before returning to the Capitol to listen to a briefing by Senate President pro tempore Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) and to decide in caucus that Democratic party diva Rosalind Wyman of Los Angeles should chair the California Electoral College. Wyman also had chaired the successful reelection campaign of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Next the electors attended a mass news conference where many of them were quizzed whether they want the electoral college to be abolished -- especially since their man Gore had won the popular vote, but had lost to Republican George W. Bush in the Electoral College following the Supreme Court's decision to halt the Florida recount. Notwithstanding its faults, Oberndorfer expressed the belief that the Electoral College should be retained, so that presidential candidates will campaign all over the nation, not just in populous states.

Next the group went to the floor of the state Assembly to participate in the ceremony of casting all of California's electoral votes for Gore and Lieberman. Each elector was entitled to bring three guests, and Oberndorfer's special witnesses were his wife, Lisa; daughter Ashley, 11, a sixth grade student at the San Diego Jewish Academy, and Bruce Davidson, a government teacher at Grossmont High School.

The formal meeting was called to order by Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), who once attended the University of Redlands with Oberndorfer. After Governor Davis gave a speech, the electors formally balloted to make Wyman their chair, and she in turn conducted the meeting. The electors then received printed ballots, green for Gore, and yellow for Lieberman. The act of voting was accomplished by each elector signing his or her name to each of the ballots. Then tellers, who had been elected from the delegation, formally counted the votes, even though California's winner-take-all system meant that a unanimous tally was foreordained. "After each vote was counted, there was a standing ovation by the electors and the gallery," Oberndorfer said. 

For Oberndorfer, a member of Temple Emanu-El, one of the greatest thrills was casting the vote for Lieberman. "The whole process was marvelous," Oberndorfer said, "but casting a vote for a Jewish vice presidential candidate was truly significant. I was the first person on my feet at that moment. I was very proud." --- Donald H. Harrison