Members of the Electoral College gathered at state capitols around the country and in Colorado on Monday to cast the final votes of the 2012 Presidential Election.
Colorado has 9 electoral votes. The number is based on how many members of Congress a state has. In the case of Colorado, its 7 from the House of Representatives and 2 Senators.
Colorado Statesman Publisher Jody Hope Strogoff was in attendance at Monday’s vote along with Governor John Hickenlooper, Secretary of State Scott Gessler and State Supreme Court Justice Michael Bender.
Strogoff says things went smoothly.
“They did two sets of votes, one for President Obama and one for Vice President Joe Biden. All 9 electors voted for Obama and likewise they all voted for Biden to0. No Surprises."
Strogoff adds while there were no surprises, there have been 158 occasions over the history of the country where these electors have cast votes for president or vice president in a different manner different than they said they would.
A lot of attention was given to Colorado’s 9 electoral votes but in the end the race was decided for President Obama without Colorado playing a major role as many pundits had predicted.
The state will have the same number of electoral votes to offer in 2016, which Strogoff says is still good for Colorado.
“Colorado still is, right now, considered kind of purple. It’s not a strong Republican or Democratic state at this point and I have a feeling at least for the next round of elections Colorado will still be a swing state. I think it actually benefits a lot of the people here in Colorado because they get to see the candidates, there’s more attention paid to the state and to our issues.”
The final step in the process will be to certify the Electoral College vote. That will happen during a joint session of Congress on January 6th.
