This just in... Barack Obama is the next President

In case you were wondering, Barack Obama won the election.

Before you yell out "duh" (or "doy" if you're from Generation Y) - it wasn't official yet.  Today, 538 electors across the country met to officially cast their ballots.  This is merely a step in the Electoral College process.  The Constitution mandates that state electors gather and officially vote.

(Now maybe this doesn't compare with the news of Joe Biden getting a new puppy - but since it's in the Constitution, it is newsworthy).

So, today was officially that day.  So what'd they do?

According to the Electoral College web site:

The electors in each State meet to select the President and Vice President of the United States. The electors record their votes on six "Certificates of Vote," which are paired with the six remaining original "Certificates of Ascertainment." The electors sign, seal and certify the packages of electoral votes and immediately send them to the Federal and State officials listed in these instructions.

And the winner is...

The result?  Obama won.

In Illinois, it was a single bit of good news in a state mired in controversy.

"We are here today to celebrate a great victory. This is not a victory for one group over another or one party over another or one point of view over another. Today, we celebrate a victory for America," said Illinois Secretary of State Jason White.

Hold everything

But it's not over yet.

January 6 is the next critical day.  That's when Congress will meet to add up all the Electoral College votes.

So can John McCain mount the greatest comeback ever and sneak out a win?  Never say never, but .... no.

A lot of voters

By the way, over 131 million people voted in this past election.   That means that 61.6 percent of eligible voters voted. That's the highest percentage in 40 years.

The states with the biggest voter turnout?  Minnesota was number one with a 77.8 percent turnout followed by Wisconsin, Maine, New Hampshire and Iowa.

At the bottom of the barrel?  A tie.  West Virginia and Hawaii came in last with only 50 .6 percent of eligible voters participating.