- Jack Arends, a terminally ill Washington elector, on Monday delivered an emotional speech after casting his vote for President-elect
Joe Biden . - "Today is the chance to begin the end of the Trump administration," Arends said. "I was glad to do my duty."
- "It will be up to others to do the hard work of rebuilding our nation as my health is failing," Arends added before starting to weep.
An elector in Washington state with a terminal illness offered an impassioned speech on the "end of the Trump administration" and civic duty after casting his vote for President-elect Joe Biden on Monday.
Jack Arends, 64, told the chamber that last month a doctor told him "there is no more medical treatment that can help me so it was important for me to do this one thing that I could do while I still can," The Washington Post reported.
"Today is the chance to begin the end of the Trump administration," Arends said. "I was glad to do my duty … Had he won a second term, there is no limit to the damage he could have done to the world."
"It will be up to others to do the hard work of rebuilding our nation as my health is failing," Arends added before he began to weep and a fellow elector comforted him.
—Holly Figueroa O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) December 15, 2020
Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman, a Republican, told Arends she was "deeply touched" by his emotion, The Post reported.
"I'm so glad that you're here and that you are able to be one of the electors representing our state," Wyman said to Arends. "It's an honor to be in the room with you."
Arends recently told The Everett Herald that he was diagnosed with an inoperable heart valve and told he didn't have much time left only days after being selected as an elector.
"I don't know how much time I am going to have on this earth, but I am going to make it count while I am here and that includes being an elector," Arends told
According to The Herald, Arends cast his vote with Sharpie markers in a jab at President