Under Article II of the Constitution, “The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.”
Congress chose Monday as that day, and it could be a bit more fun than usual to watch. Here’s what the Constitution says on the Electoral College. First, from Article II:
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector …
That part we already did on Nov. 8. The 12th Amendment then describes what has been the modified procedure of the Electoral College since 1804:
… The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate.
Finally, these sealed electoral votes will eventually be counted by Vice President Joe Biden (“the president of the Senate”) in the presence of a joint session of Congress when it reconvenes in January.
No one should expect a surprise today in terms of the outcome. The electors might well have a right to deliver one (although so far the courts have frowned upon this idea) but they aren’t going to. Trump is going to win.
But it’s going to be interesting to see how many votes Hillary Clinton receives. On the one hand, there is the potential for protest votes for Bernie Sanders (one elector from Maine has already promised to deliver one). On the other hand, there is the apparent plot among some Democratic electors (and just one Republican we know of for sure) to vote for John Kasich, in hopes of making him president instead of Trump.
C-Span will be showing Electoral College action all day long at this link.
