(Now) Its (Really) Official

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 11

A joint session of Congress met yesterday to count and certify the votes cast by the electoral college for the 2008 presidential election. No surprise in the result: 365 votes for Barack Obama and Joe Biden, 173 for John McCain and Sarah Palin. The outcome now clears the last requirement for Barack Obama to take the oath of office on January 20.

I wish I could have been in the capitol to witness things yesterday. Not only would it have been uniquely historic to watch the electoral college tally entered in the journals of the House and Senate, but it also would have been great fun to watch Vice President Dick Cheney convene the session pursuant to the pesky Constitution and the laws of the United States. I bet you could almost see him gritting his teeth as he had to do it.

Just eleven more days. Wonderful!

It's Official

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 35

In one of those quirky technicalities that seems a whole lot more important since the disputed election of 2000, the Electoral College voted yesterday to officially elect Barack Obama President of the United States.

The country may be forgiven for thinking that it did that job directly back on November 4, but the fact is that voters on that day chose a slate of electors pledged to one candidate or another, and yesterday they cast their votes - the ones that, under Article II, Section 1, Clause 4 of the Constitution, officially matter - for president. I'll spare you the remainder of the civics lesson, but do encourage you to have a look at the National Archives and Records Administration's excellent Electoral College webite.

Anyway, for those keeping score at home, here's how the electoral votes tallied up:

John McCain = 173
Barack Obama = 365

Congress will certify the electoral results as its first order of business when it reconvenes on January 8, 2009. Wait, did I say the results were now official? Not quite yet.

Heavy sigh.