Sunday Night Political Discussion Topic: U.S. Electoral College

Went over to mom and dad's place tonight (as we normally do on a Sunday evening) for dinner. Dinner was nice -- always is.

After dinner Kevin and I chatted about computers, programing, "A Short History of Nearly Everyting" (a book I'm reading that Kev and dad have already read), and dad joined for the political discussion.

I made reference to the U.S. electoral college system, and remarked that Americans don't actually vote for the president, but rather that they vote for electors who elect the president. By this time Kevin was asleep on the couch (I suspect he wasn't actually asleep, but that he was disinterested enough in the conversation that mock-sleeping was a better alternative. Dad questioned me on the electoral college system, and I didn't have a strong enough knowelge of the convention/electoral college system to speak authoritatively on it -- but I was quite sure of the generalities.

Here's a quote from the U.S. Federal Election Commision's website:

"On the Tuesday following the first Monday of November in years divisible by
four, the people in each State cast their ballots for the party slate of
Electors representing their choice for president and vice president (although as
a matter of practice, general election ballots normally say "Electors for" each
set of candidates rather than list the individual Electors on each slate)."

Here's another, more clear explanation from infoplease.com:

"In the November election, the voters cast their votes for electors, not for
president. In some states, the ballots include only the names of the
presidential and vice-presidential candidates; in others, they include only
names of the electors...

"On the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, the electors cast their votes in their respective state capitols. Constitutionally they may vote for someone other than the party candidate but usually they do not since they are pledged to one party and its candidate on the ballot...

"The votes of the electors, certified by the states, are sent to Congress, where the president of the Senate opens the certificates and has them counted in the presence of both houses on Jan. 6. The new president is inaugurated at noon on Jan. 20."

So there you have it. A little refresher on the American electoral college. By the way, the electors are chosen from state delegates at the parties national convention in the summer before the November election. And, though highly unlikely, it is technically possible, and more importantly it's legal for the electors to cast thier ballot for someone other than the candidate they're pledged to vote for. Now that's odd if you ask me.