(Frankfort, KY)- Kentuckians from across the Commonwealth gathered at the State Capitol to witness Kentucky’s eight Presidential Electors cast their ballots for President and Vice President of the United States of America. George W. Bush and Richard Cheney received all eight votes for President and Vice-President, respectively. Bush and Cheney won Kentucky’s popular vote by more than 350,000 votes.
“This vote today represents another step in the Presidential electoral process,” stated Secretary of State Trey Grayson. “The electors echoed the same sentiment that the popular vote in Kentucky reflected—that Kentuckians want President Bush to lead them for the next four years.”
The Electoral College was established by the founding fathers as a compromise between election of the President by Congress and election by popular vote. The people of the United States vote for the electors, as designated by a vote for a particular slate of candidates, who then vote for the President and Vice-President.
On the Monday following the second Wednesday of December, as established in federal law, each state's Electors meet in their respective state capitals and cast their electoral votes, one for President and one for Vice President. The electoral votes are then sealed and transmitted from each state to the President of the U.S. Senate who, on the following January 6, opens and reads them before both houses of the Congress.
The candidates with the most electoral votes will be declared the next President and Vice-President of the United States. If the Electors from every state cast their ballots in conjunction with the state’s popular vote, Bush and Cheney will be re-elected by a vote of 286 votes to John Kerry and John Edward’s 252 votes. Electors in many states are not bound to vote for the winner of the popular election, as is the case in Kentucky.
Kentucky receives eight (8) electoral votes equal to the number of its U.S. Senators plus the number of its U.S. Representatives. The electors for Kentucky as chosen by the Republican Party were:
Carla Bartleman (Paducah)-At-Large
Frank Schwendeman (Lexington)-At-Large
Rachel McCubbin (Hopkinsville)-1st District
Keith A. Hall (Simpsonville)-2nd District
Carolyn Cole (Louisville)-3rd District
Martha Prewitt (Flemingsburg)-4th District
Donald E. Girdler (Somerset)-5th District
Constance M. Gray (Stamping Ground)-6th District
Frank Schwendeman and Rachel McCubbin were elected Permanent Chairman of the Electors and Permanent Secretary of Electors, respectively.
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