Election News
Lots of info about the Electoral College and the line of succession can be found at
Massachusetts
ELECTORAL VOTES
11
2010 Census Reapportionment: Massachusetts lost one electoral vote, giving it 11 through the 2020 presidential election.
Massachusetts, one of the original 13 colonies, joined the Union in February 1788, and has participated in all 57 presidential elections. The state has been reliably Democratic since 1928, but has voted Republican four times since then – twice each for Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan. Massachusetts was the only state to vote for George McGovern in his huge 1972 electoral loss to Richard Nixon. Like many northeastern states, Massachusetts slowly lost its electoral clout over the course of the 20th century. The state has lost 1/3 of its electoral votes since the 1920s, falling from 18 to 11. In 2012, Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney 61% to 38%.
2016 ELECTION
Safe Clinton
2016 Massachusetts Polls
The Electoral College in 2016
The following is a summary of how the Electoral College will work in the 2016 presidential election:
- Spring and Summer 2016: Nomination of Electors. The political parties in each state nominate their electors. Parties and states have different ways of going about this, but a party's presidential electors are generally loyal or consistent party members. The parties want to be sure they can rely on their electors to cast their votes for the party's nominee for president.
- Nov. 8, 2016: Election Day, when voters in each state will select their presidential electors. The names of electors are not on the ballot in most states. Rather, when a voter casts a vote for a presidential candidate, s/he is also casting a vote for the electors already selected by the party of that candidate. If a majority of voters in a state vote for the Republican candidate for president, the Republican slate of electors is elected. If a majority vote for the Democratic candidate, the Democratic slate of electors is chosen.
- Dec. 13, 2016: Deadline for Resolving Election Disputes. All state recounts and court contests over presidential election results must be completed by this date.
- Dec. 19, 2016: Meeting of the Electors. The electors meet in each state and cast their ballots for president and vice president. Each elector votes on his or her own ballot and signs it. The ballots are immediately transmitted to various people: one copy goes to the president of the U.S. Senate (who is also the vice president of the United States); this is the copy that will be officially counted later. Other copies go to the state's secretary of state, the National Archives and Records Administration, and the presiding judge in the district where the electors meet (this serves as a backup copy that would replace the official copy sent to the president of the Senate if it is lost or destroyed).
- Dec. 28, 2016: Deadline for Receipt of Ballots. The electors' ballots from all states must be received by the president of the Senate by this date. There is no penalty for missing this deadline.
- Jan. 6, 2017: Counting of the Electoral Ballots. The U.S. Congress meets in joint session to count the electoral votes.
- Jan. 20, 2017: Inauguration Day. The president-elect becomes the president of the United States.
Thye above info is from
http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/the-electoral-college.aspx#distribution