Ohio's 18 members of the Electoral College - all pledged to vote for President Obama and Vice President Biden - meet at noon Monday at the Statehouse in Columbus to do their duty.
Lists of 18 electors were submitted by both political parties before the election. Since Obama won Ohio on Nov. 6 with 50.7 percent of the vote, the 18 people submitted by the Democrats will take their seats in the Ohio Senate chamber Monday.
Each of Ohio's 16 congressional districts has one member; and there are two at-large members - former Ohio governor Ted Strickland and Chris Redfern, the Ohio Democratic Party chairman.
Southwest Ohio is represented by Dan Traicoff, the president of the University of Cincinnati College Democrats (1st Congressional District); Clermont County Democratic Party activist Constance Lighthall (2nd Congressional District) and Cathina Hourani of Butler County's Liberty Township (8th Congressional District), who was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.
The electors will cast two ballots - one for president and one for vice president. The votes will be sealed and sent to the President of the U.S. Senate - Vice President Biden. On Jan. 6, Biden, presiding over the Senate, will open each state's sealed vote and read the results; and will end up declaring himself and President Obama the winners of the 2012 presidential election.
If all goes according to plan, the final vote of the electoral college will be 332 for Obama and 206 for Republican Mitt Romney. The winning candidate must have 270 electoral votes.
