The event in the Senate Chamber will be broadcast live at noon
Monday on public broadcast stations across the state. Secretary
of State Cesar Perales will convene the event. His office is
encouraging schools to air it as a civics lesson. Under the U.S.
Constitution, the president and vice president are elected
indirectly by "electors" who are elected by popular vote. New
York's 29 electors include Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Albany Mayor Jerry
Jennings, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Comptroller Thomas
DiNapoli, and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. They also
include Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, several New York City
officials and some union leaders and Democratic party officials.
While the Electoral College has the ultimate say in choosing
Democrat Barack Obama over Republican Mitt Romney, the exercise
is largely academic. Presidential elections in which the popular
vote winner lost the race in the Electoral College: 1876:
Republican Rutherford Hayes defeats Samuel Tilden by 185 to 184
in Electoral College des