Dec 16, 2008, 3:59 GMT
Washington - While he may have been elected by US voters on November 4, the process of formally naming president-elect Barack Obama to the post only began Monday.
State electors from around the country gathered in their respective state capitals to cast their ballots under the country's complex Electoral College system, officially making Obama the first African-American to capture the White House.
Some 538 electoral votes are divided according to population among the 50 US states and the District of Columbia, as the federal city of Washington is known. The top presidential vote-getter in each state wins all the electoral college votes from that state, in a winner- take-all system practiced by all but two states.
Obama won 53 per cent of the popular vote compared to 46 per cent for Republican candidate John McCain. More importantly, Obama won 365 electoral votes to 173 for McCain.
The 538 so-called electors - made up primarily of activists named by the parties in each state - gathered separately in every state capital to cast their ballots. There is little suspense, though technically the electors in many states can vote however they wish.
The votes were completed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in routine fashion, according to media reports.
'This is a great day in America,' said Pennsylvania's Electoral College President William George, after the state's electors cast their 21 votes for Obama.
The US Congress must still count and approve the electoral college vote in a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives on January 8.
Obama is to be sworn into office on January 20, in an inauguration ceremony that is expected to attract millions of supporter and spectators to potentially the largest event in Washington's history.
Obama plans to travel by railroad to the Washington swearing-in ceremony, starting in Philadelphia and making stops in running mate Joe Biden's home town of Wilmington, Delaware, and in Baltimore, Maryland, his transition team announced Monday.
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I bet $20Dec 16th, 2008 - 17:38:20
Tyson could knock Obama out.
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