Barack Obama Wins Presidency Today

By CJP | December 15, 2008

No, that’s not an old headline- it’s hot off the CJP presses.  

But hasn’t Obama already been elected, you ask?  Not officially.  That’s because of the quirk in American democracy known as indirect election of the president by the Electoral College.  Even though we all voted on Election Day in November, the U.S. president is officially chosen by members of the Electoral College, who technically can vote for whomever they choose, but in practice, vote based on the popular vote in their states, winner take all.

The Constitution says that electors will meet on “the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December,” (that’s today) in all fifty states and the District of Columbia to cast their votes for president. The National Archives has a full rundown of how the process works, including the relationship of the popular vote from Election Day to the electors’ votes today, the number of electors in each state, details of Certificates of Ascertainment, and other bits of arcania that only a Jane could love.

If you want to see the action live, and we know you do, then click on over to CSPAN.org, where they’re tracking developments in all 50 states, plus D.C..  One to watch will be in  Virginia’s state capitol, the building that was once the seat of the capital of the Confederacy, and will today see Virginia elect the first African American to the presidency. 

The last two years have all led up to this, so really it’s history in the making, gals…

Topics: Amendment-a-Day

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