Recap of Popular Vote
President Ronald Reagan won a dramatic re-election on 11/6/1984. He carried the popular vote with 58% to 41% for former VP Walter Mondale. Reagan won 49 of the 50 states, leaving Mondale with a razor-thin win in Minnesota and a runaway win in the District of Columbia. Of the 538 people chosen to cast the electoral vote, 525 were Republican and 13 were Democratic.
Casting the Electoral Vote
The Presidential Electors met in their respective state capitol buildings on 12/17/1984 to cast the electoral vote. The 51 individual ceremonies were witnessed by small a limited number of guests, primarily relatives of the Electors.
All Presidential Electors voted for the nominees of their parties. The Associated Press, however, reported that one Republican Elector in Illinois attempted to vote for Geraldine Ferraro (the Democratic nominee) for Vice President. The chairman of the Illinois electoral college called for a second ballot, and VP Bush won all 24 electoral votes. The certificate of vote of Illinois did not indicate that a second ballot took place.
Joint Session of Congress
Congress assembled in joint session on 1/7/1985 to count the electoral votes. The U.S. Senate entered the U.S. House chamber at 12:55 p.m., and the session lasted for roughly 30 minutes. VP Bush presided, with Majority Leader Jim Wright of the U.S. House (who had been presiding over U.S. House sessions in the absence of Speaker Tip O'Neill) serving as assistant chairman. The tellers were as shown in the table.
The two mahogany boxes containing the electoral votes of the states were opened, and that of Alabama was first read. When it was complete, VP Bush announced that unless an objection was made, only the critical information would be read from the certificates of vote of other states. There was no objection.
As it turned out, no member of Congress raised an objection to the result of any state. VP Bush declared Ronald Reagan to have been re-elected President and himself to have been re-elected Vice President. The purpose of the joint session having been completed, members of the Senate departed from the House chamber at 1:22 p.m.
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