MADISON -- Ten Democratic Presidential Electors will gather at noon Monday, December 17th at the State Capitol to cast Wisconsin’s Electoral College votes for President and Vice President of the United States.
At the November 6, 2012 presidential election, Wisconsin voters selected the Democratic slate of Presidential Electors who were represented on the ballot by the Democratic candidates, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
Wisconsin has one elector for each of its eight Congressional districts and two statewide electors. Presidential electors are nominated by elected officials and legislative candidates of each political party with ballot status in Wisconsin and by independent candidates for president. Only those electors pledged to the winning Presidential candidate cast an Electoral College vote.
Like most states, Wisconsin awards Electoral College votes on a “winner-takes-all” basis, meaning the presidential candidate with the most votes gets all of the state’s Electoral College votes. However, Nebraska and Maine award their votes on the basis of which candidate has won each Congressional district.
The Presidential Electors will actually cast two ballots, one for the office of President and one for Vice President, and then sign six original Certificates of Votes Cast to validate the process. The Congress will meet in joint session on January 6, 2013 to count the electoral votes received from each state.
The electors participating Monday were chosen at a public meeting in the State Capitol on October 2 by Democratic elected officials and legislative candidates as required by Wisconsin law. The electors include one State Senator, three members of the State Assembly, and a former Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor.
The U.S. Electoral College was designed in 1787 by the framers of the U.S. Constitution. They determined that the number of electors from each state must equal the number of each state’s representatives to Congress (U.S. Senate and House). Federal employees and members of Congress are prohibited from serving as electors.