Duly Appointed Presidential Electors

Last update: 2008oct11

The Green Papers: 2008 General Election

Duly Appointed Presidential Electors
Vote: Monday 15 December 2008

During the Year 2008

'Each political Party or Independent presidential candidate nominates Electors in each State or equivalent'

Appointment of Electors: Well before the General Election in Presidential Election years, Elector-candidates are nominated (for these do not become actual "Electors" unless and until the presidential/vice-presidential ticket to whom they are "pledged" actually wins the Popular Vote in their jurisdiction through the results of voting in that General Election) by either Political Parties or by the listing of slates of such potential Electors for an Independent (or "Third Party") candidate on a petition for ballot access in a State (or the District of Columbia). It is commonest practice for such Elector-candidates (who, at least in the case of the Major Parties, almost always are Party insiders for whom being so nominated is an honor bestowed because of their loyal service to the Party) to be nominated for the position of Presidential Elector at the same time as, or at least in coordination with, the State (or D.C.)'s final determination of those who are to be at-large delegates to the Party's National Convention being held in the Summer of the Presidential Election year (though this is not always the case): thus, most such Elector-candidates are actually chosen even before the Parties have formally nominated their presidential/vice-presidential ticket contesting the General Election at said National Convention. Elector-candidates, however, can only be constitutionally "appointed" (that is, actually become) Electors as a result of the voting in that General Election.

Tuesday 4 November 2008

''The voters go to the polls and Electors are "appointed" as a result of the Popular Vote for President in each State or equivalent'

General Election: The voters in each State (& D.C.) "appoint" (based on their respective choices from among the presidential/vice-presidential tickets on the ballot in their State) slates of Electors to serve in the so-called "Electoral College" ('so-called' because the 538 Electors never ever meet all together in one place as the term "Electoral College" might imply) based on the law in each State (& D.C.). 48 States and the District of Columbia "appoint" their Electors on a winner-take-all basis (that is, the presidential/vice-presidential ticket with the plurality of the Statewide vote [= most votes from the State] is intended to get all that jurisdiction's Electors). In each of the two remaining States, Maine and Nebraska, the presidential/vice-presidential ticket that receives the plurality of the vote in each Congressional District is intended to get the vote of the 1 "district" Elector from that CD, while the presidential/vice-presidential ticket receiving the most votes Statewide is intended to get the votes of 2 "at-large" Electors from the State.

(Apparent electoral vote -- 270 needed to be elected.)

Obama: 0

McCain: 0

Other: 0

Monday 15 December 2008

''The Electors meet in each State [and the District of Columbia] and formally cast their Electoral Votes'

Place and Time of Meeting of Electors: The Electors meet within their respective States or D.C. (again, there is no all-up meeting of the entire "Electoral College"-- each such Elector meeting is, in effect, one of 51 separate meetings of 51 different "Electoral College"s [one for each of the 50 States plus D.C.]), with each Elector in attendance casting 1 "Electoral Vote" for, separately, President and Vice President of the United States. No provision of the U.S. Constitution or Federal law requires Electors to vote in accordance with the Popular Vote in their respective jurisdictions from which they have been "appointed" in the General Election; however, State law or State Party rules (where these are authorized by State law to do so) might (or, for that matter, might not!) require that State's Electors to cast their Electoral Votes for the presidential/vice-presidential candidate to which they have been "pledged" via the results of the Popular Vote in that State cast during the General Election. The Electors record their votes on six Certificates of Vote and six Certificates of Ascertainment (three Certificates of each type for each of the two high Offices for whom the Electors are voting) and then sign, seal, and certify each set. One set for each high Office is sent to the President of the Senate (currently Vice President Richard B. "Dick" Cheney), while two sets for each high Office are sent to the Archivist. The Federal Register preserves one archival set for each high Office and holds the other set aside, subject to the possible call of the President of the Senate (again, in the case of the 2008 Election, Vice President Cheney) to replace potentially missing or incomplete Electoral Vote certifications among other sets of Certificates.

Tally of electors from Certificates of Ascertainment

Obama: 0

McCain: 0

Other: 0

0 of 51 Jurisdictions reporting

Tally of electors from Certificates of Vote

Obama: 0

McCain: 0

Other: 0

0 of 51 Jurisdictions reporting

THE "FAITHLESS ELECTORS" - Presidential Electors who have defected in the past

Tuesday 6 January 2009 (tentative)

'The Electoral Votes are counted and tabulated before a Joint Session of Congress, after which it is officially declared who has been elected President and Vice President'

"Tentatively" because- under the "unless they shall by Law appoint a different day" provision in Section 2 of the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution- Congress does not have to actually convene on 3 January (though the TERM of the new Congress itself always begins on the 3d- at Noon Eastern)... before this current Congress adjourns (and it is sounding more and more as if we will have yet another Congress with a "lame duck" 'component' to its odd-year Second Session after this coming General Election), a resolution setting the date for the next Congress to actually convene will be adopted and that will tell us if, indeed, 6 January will be the day.

The so-called "Tabulation Joint Session of Congress": Congress meets in Joint Session (that is, Senate and House meeting together as a single body in the House of Representatives chamber in the U.S. Capitol) to formally count and tabulate the Electoral Votes with the President of the Senate (once more, re: the 2008 Election, Vice President Richard B. "Dick" Cheney) as the presiding officer of this so-called "Tabulation Joint Session". If at least one Senator and at least one House member jointly submit an objection to the counting of the Electoral Vote of any State (or D.C.), each House is required to immediately retire to its respective chamber to consider such an objection separately. If a State submits conflicting sets of Electoral Votes to Congress, the same procedure is utilized (the two houses immediately adjourn to their respective chambers to deal with the issue). If both houses, considering such an issue separately, happen to concur in the result (that is, they both agree as to whether or not a State's Electoral Vote should be counted and tabulated or they agree as to which set of conflicting Electoral Votes to count and tabulate), they return to Joint Session, count and tabulate the Electoral Votes they have thereby accepted and then continue with and complete the counting and tabulation of any remaining Electoral Votes (unless, of course, there should be another such objection raised re: another State); if, on the other hand, the two houses do not concur in the result, the votes of those Electors certified by the Governor of the State (or Mayor of Washington, D.C.) in question must be counted and tabulated as the Electoral Vote from that State (or D.C.), without exception, once the Joint Session is resumed. A candidate for President or Vice President must achieve a majority of the Electoral Vote (270 out of the total 538) in order to be declared elected by the President of the Senate (Vice-President Dick Cheney in this case) at the conclusion of the Tabulation Joint Session. In the absence of such a majority, the House (voting by State and not as individuals [a majority of States (26 of 51) being required]) selects the President, while the Senate (voting as individuals and not by State [a majority of Senators (51 of 100) being required]) selects the Vice President.

Final Electoral Vote for President (270 needed to be elected)

Obama: 0

McCain: 0

Other: 0

Final Electoral Vote for Vice President (270 needed to be elected)

Biden: 0

Palin: 0

Other: 0

Reference: NARA | Federal Register | U.S. Electoral College

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Northern Marianas Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming


Alabama 9 Electors. Population 2000 census: 4,447,100.
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7
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9

Alaska 3 Electors. Population 2000 census: 626,932.
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Arizona 10 Electors. Population 2000 census: 4,447,100.
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5
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7
8
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10

Arkansas 6 Electors. Population 2000 census: 2,673,400.
CD 1
CD 2
CD 3
CD 4
At-Large
At-Large

California 55 Electors. Population 2000 census: 33,871,648.
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51
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55

Colorado 9 Electors. Population 2000 census: 4,301,261.
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5
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7
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9

Connecticut 7 Electors. Population 2000 census: 3,405,565.
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7

Delaware 3 Electors. Population 2000 census: 783,600.
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3

District of Columbia 3 Electors. Population 2000 census: 572,059.
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3

Florida 27 Electors. Population 2000 census: 15,982,378.
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27

Georgia 15 Electors. Population 2000 census: 8,186,453.
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15

Hawaii 4 Electors. Population 2000 census: 1,211,537.
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4

Idaho 4 Electors. Population 2000 census: 1,293,953.
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4

Illinois 21 Electors. Population 2000 census: 12,419,293.
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8
9
10
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15
16
17
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21

Indiana 11 Electors. Population 2000 census: 6,080,485.
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5
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7
8
9
10
11

Iowa 7 Electors. Population 2000 census: 2,926,324.
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7

Kansas 6 Electors. Population 2000 census: 2,688,418.
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6

Kentucky 8 Electors. Population 2000 census: 4,041,769.
At-Large
At-Large
CD 1
CD 2
CD 3
CD 4
CD 5
CD 6

Louisiana 9 Electors. Population 2000 census: 4,468,976.
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5
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8
9

Maine 4 Electors. Population 2000 census: 1,274,923.
CD 1
CD 2
At-Large
At-Large

Maryland 10 Electors. Population 2000 census: 5,296,486.
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3
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5
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7
8
9
10

Massachusetts 12 Electors. Population 2000 census: 6,349,097.
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9
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12

Michigan 17 Electors. Population 2000 census: 9,938,444.
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Minnesota 10 Electors. Population 2000 census: 4,919,479.
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10

Mississippi 6 Electors. Population 2000 census: 2,844,658.
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6

Missouri 11 Electors. Population 2000 census: 5,595,211.
CD 1
CD 2
CD 3
CD 4
CD 5
CD 6
CD 7
CD 8
CD 9
At-Large
At-Large

Montana 3 Electors. Population 2000 census: 902,195.
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3

Nebraska 5 Electors. Population 2000 census: 1,711,263.
CD 1
CD 2
CD 3
At-Large
At-Large

Nevada 5 Electors. Population 2000 census: 1,998,257.
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5

New Hampshire 4 Electors. Population 2000 census: 1,235,786.
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4

New Jersey 15 Electors. Population 2000 census: 8,414,350.
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15

New Mexico 5 Electors. Population 2000 census: 1,819,046.
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5

New York 31 Electors. Population 2000 census: 18,976,457.
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North Carolina 15 Electors. Population 2000 census: 8,049,313.
CD 1
CD 2
CD 3
CD 4
CD 5
CD 6
CD 7
CD 8
CD 9
CD 10
CD 11
CD 12
CD 13
At-Large
At-Large

North Dakota 3 Electors. Population 2000 census: 642,200.
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Ohio 20 Electors.
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20

Oklahoma 7 Electors. Population 2000 census: 3,450,654.
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7

Oregon 7 Electors. Population 2000 census: 3,421,399.
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7

Pennsylvania 21 Electors. Population 2000 census: 12,281,054.
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Rhode Island 4 Electors. Population 2000 census: 1,048,319.
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4

South Carolina 8 Electors. Population 2000 census: 4,012,012.
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8

South Dakota 3 Electors. Population 2000 census: 754,844.
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3

Tennessee 11 Electors. Population 2000 census: 5,689,283.
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11

Texas 34 Electors. Population 2000 census: 20,851,820.
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34

Utah 5 Electors. Population 2000 census: 2,233,169.
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5

Vermont 3 Electors. Population 2000 census: 608,827.
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3

Virginia 13 Electors. Population 2000 census: 7,078,515.
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Washington 11 Electors. Population 2000 census: 5,894,121.
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West Virginia 5 Electors. Population 2000 census: 1,808,344.
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Wisconsin 10 Electors. Population 2000 census: 5,363,675.
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Wyoming 3 Electors. Population 2000 census: 493,782.
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