Question about Ohio Electors: Are they legally obliged to cast their vote

[karlrschneider]

for the 'certified winner'? I know most states are, but here in Oklahoma, if they don't it's a misdemeanor (small fine)..just wondering. I could probably google this but thought some Ohioan might know off the bat...
;-)

[Fortunato]

1. Electors summary

Here's the deal:

Electors are pre-selected by each party (for example, in Ohio, the Rep's have 20 people picked out to represent Ohio if they win the state, while the Dem's have 20 of their own guys picked out). The state of New Hampshire, for example, had a list of its Rep electors and the Dem electors on its site, so you can even see the names and addresses of some of these folks for each state.

Whoever wins the state gets to send THEIR electors to place the votes for the state. If Bush wins Ohio, then his 20 guys (handpicked by Reps) are going to place the vote. If Kerry wins, the Dems' handpicked team is going to do the voting.

See where this is going? Each party is only going to send rabid hard-line supporters as their electors; these guys do not flip. They are chosen specifically by the party because they are as loyal as they come. It would take an extreme and unexpected crisis of almost international proportions (or maybe a complete mental breakdown?) for one of these guys to change their vote to the other major candidate.

And this has pretty much been how it has gone. Occassionally, in a case where it will not change the national election, a rep has offered a protest vote -- but never in favor of the other major party.

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As far as punishment goes, it depends on state. I'm not sure if electors are yet legally "required" to vote for their candidate in ANY state. This is because it has never really been an issue, so no laws have needed to be passed. (But if the state legislators wanted to pass them, to protect their interests, they would then do so.)