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Author Topic: Obama not yet elected President of the US
torontoprofessor
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posted 06 November 2008 11:05 PM      Profile for torontoprofessor     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
A very pedantic point: Barack Obama has not yet been elected President of the US.

Obama and Biden will be elected on December 15th: this is when the electoral college meets to vote for the President and for the Vice-President. On November 4th, nobody voted for Obama or for McCain: each individual American voter voted for a slate of pledged electors*, not for the President or Vice-President. It is the electors who elect the President and VP, not the people. And the electors will do that on Dec. 15th.

*This is a bit inaccurate: in 48 of the states and in the District of Columbia, this is what happens. In Maine and Nebraska, they don't have the same winner-takes-all system. Places like Guam and Puerto Rico do not have any electors, so US citizens residing there do not even get an indirect vote for the President.


From: Toronto | Registered: Jun 2007  |  IP: Logged
brookmere
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posted 07 November 2008 03:11 AM      Profile for brookmere     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
And DC has only had the vote in presidential elections since 1964.

Guam, Puerto Rico, etc. are not part of the US, so they don't vote for electors just as the Isle of Man, Channel Islands, etc. don't have representation in the UK Parliament.


From: BC (sort of) | Registered: Jun 2005  |  IP: Logged
josh
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posted 07 November 2008 07:07 AM      Profile for josh     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Actually, we won't know for sure until January 8, when the vote is read in Congress.

And Obama is still alive for one of the electoral votes in Nebraska. The congressional district located in Omaha and its environs is a dead heat.

[ 07 November 2008: Message edited by: josh ]


From: the twilight zone between the U.S. and Canada | Registered: Aug 2002  |  IP: Logged
Malcolm
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posted 07 November 2008 05:35 PM      Profile for Malcolm   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I saw something early on election night that suggested McCain had gotten one of the Maine electors as well - but that was probably preliminary.
From: Regina, SK | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged
josh
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posted 07 November 2008 05:43 PM      Profile for josh     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
No, Obama got all of Maine's electoral votes. And Obama did end up winning that Nebraska vote.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2835&u_sid=10481441


From: the twilight zone between the U.S. and Canada | Registered: Aug 2002  |  IP: Logged

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