With little fanfare or suspense, Floridas 29 elector voters -- each given a ceremonial pen to mark the occasion -- officially cast their ballots for President Obama on Monday.
Meeting in the Florida Senate chamber before a gallery of less than 60, of which about one-third were members of the media, the electors named by the Florida Democratic Party formally cast ballots that give the states vote to the White House incumbent.
Quoting loosely from Vice President Biden, This is a, uh, big deal, said Florida Democratic Party Chairman and elector Rod Smith.
The vote was a mere formality as Obama had already won the popular vote more than a month ago. Also, each ballot placed on the desks before each elector contained just two boxes to fill in. One for President Obama, the other for Vice President Joe Biden.
There was no space for any write-in candidate.
The vote comes on the day all 538 electors across the nation cast their ballots.
On Jan. 6, Biden will preside over a joint session of Congress where the results of the electoral votes will be announced.
The voting process was created by the Founding Fathers as a means to give every state a proportionate voice in the election of the president. Florida was one of 27 states that went for the Obama-Biden ticket, totaling 332 electoral votes.
Smith called for a moment of silence during the half-hour process for Fridays victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
The electors: Lynette Acosta; Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Scott Arceneaux; Carol Bartleson; Ana Cuz; Joe Faulk; State Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Pembroke Pines; Dina Heffernan; Burt Aaronson, former Palm Beach County commissioner; Dr. T. Wayne Bailey, Florida Democratic Party Rules Committee chairman; Leon Belton, a volunteer with Organizing for America; Alan Clendenin, Democratic National Committeeman and Hillsborough County State Committeeman; Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer; Sarasota County Democratic Party Chair Rita Fernandino; Sen. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville; Deland City Commissioner Vonzelle Johnson; Ambassador Luis Lauredo; Amy Mercado; Jean Monestime; Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith; Bob Troy; Ashley M. Walker; Jeanette Wynn; Elena McCollough; Vivian Mitchell; Susannah Randolph; Justin Spiller; Kirk Wager; and Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
