Thanks to Mr. Madison, we didn’t actually elect a President last month - we only elected the people who will elect the President. On Monday, the members of the Electoral College will meet in the various state capitols all across the country and cast the votes that really matter; the votes that will elect Barack Obama President of the United States. Just in case anyone is curious, here are the names of Minnesota’s Electors:
Arthur Anderson – Albert Lea, CD1
Ben Gross – Eagan, CD2
Bill Davis – Brooklyn Park, CD3
Joan Wittman – Saint Paul, CD4
Dave Lee – Minneapolis, CD5
Al Patton – Sartell, CD6
Jim Gremmels – Glenwood, CD7
Donyta Wright – Biwabik, CD8
Matt Little – Maplewood, At Large
Jackie Stevenson – Hopkins, At Large
Update by Aaron: Dave Lee has been running a blog about being an elector and the electoral college at Citizen Elector.
How are electors chosen? How does one become an elector?
Electors are elected at the congressional district conventions, at large electors are elected at the state convention.
Obama’s gonna get ur gunz, yo!
When the National Popular Vote bill comes into effect, the popular vote will guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
Every vote would be politically relevant and equal in presidential elections.
The bill would take effect only when enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes—that is, enough electoral votes to elect a President (270 of 538). When the bill comes into effect, all the electoral votes from those states would be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
The bill is currently endorsed by 1,181 state legislators — 439 sponsors (in 47 states) and an additional 742 legislators who have cast recorded votes in favor of the bill.
The National Popular Vote bill has passed 22 state legislative chambers, including one house in Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, and Washington, and both houses in California, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The bill has been enacted by Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, and Maryland. These four states possess 50 electoral votes — 19% of the 270 necessary to bring the law into effect.
See http://www.NationalPopularVote.com
lojasmo is right, except that technically he’s talking about the party nominations, not the elections per se. The election itself occurs on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November when the people vote for “President and Vice President.”
I posted a much more detailed account of the Minnesota DFL process here:
http://citizenelector.us/2008/09/06/becoming-an-elector-d-minnesota/
Did they ever figure out who voted for Edwards in 2004?
No. Since it was a secret ballot, we’ll never know for sure unless someone admits it.
There’s no danger of this now. They changed the law such that we’ll have to both verbally announce our votes, and display our ballots before casting them.
Thanks, Dave.
Just an extra reminder: Obama, not Biden.
That’s good to know, cause that CD5 character seems awfully shady. I’m sure he would vote for Lizard people if he could.
Dave;
That’s correct, I was speaking of how the electors are chosen.
Agree with cursedthing about that shady CD-5 guy. Cursedthing is somewhat suspect his/herself, though.
Well, at least I’m in good company!