ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 17, 1996 TAG: 9612170058
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITER
TECHNICALLY SPEAKING, Bill Clinton's victory wasn't sealed until Monday, when the 50 electoral colleges met.
William Jefferson Clinton was elected to a second term as president of the United States on Monday.
Oh, sure, he gave his victory speech weeks ago. The inauguration plans are well under way, and Bob Dole has long since settled into retirement.
But the real election - that little-understood constitutional oddity known as the Electoral College - was held Monday in state capitals around the nation.
And, you guessed it, Bill Clinton won.
He didn't win Virginia, mind you. The 13 electors from the Old Dominion squeezed into the Capitol's creaky Old Senate Chamber and sided unanimously with the Republican ticket.
Unless you take your politics intravenously, you've probably never paid the Electoral College any mind. You vote for president, the votes are counted, and the person with the most gets sworn in.
But the truth is, a president could be elected even if he lost the Election Day tally. It has happened three times: John Quincy Adams in 1824, Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876 and Benjamin Harrison in 1888.
"It's mostly ceremonial, but we are talking about the votes that really count," said Bruce Meadows, secretary of the state Board of Elections. "After all, they're electing the president."
Clinton won the electoral vote, 379-159, but Dole could have won with just 600,000 more votes in strategic areas of the country.
As such, proposals are made periodically to abolish the electoral system. But the Founding Fathers designed it to ensure that the whole country has a say in presidential elections, not just the most populous states.
"We're a democratic republic, and we try to protect the interests of all people - that's why this is so important," said John Swallow, a 39-year-old Arlington resident who watched Monday's vote. "I think it's brilliant. It's the best part of our democracy."
Swallow is an electoral groupie, of sorts. Monday was the third electoral vote he has seen in as many states. He plans to check out Dover in 2000. "We're trying to figure out how to manipulate it so we can overthrow the country," said Don Loos, a colleague who tagged along.
The Electoral College works like this: Each state gets one vote for each member of Congress, and the District of Columbia gets three, a total of 538 votes. Virginia gets 13 votes - it has two senators and 11 representatives.
When citizens vote for president on Election Day, they actually vote for the electors, who are selected by the political party of whichever candidate wins the state. Electors around the country meet the same day, and their votes are forwarded to the president of the Senate. The winner will be declared officially when the votes are counted Jan.9.
Occasionally, a "faithless" elector will defy the voters. A West Virginian decided to vote for Lloyd Bentsen for president in 1992. One of Virginia's Nixon electors voted Libertarian in 1972.
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