Antiquated system?

Federal law states that Electoral College voters meet on the Monday after the second Wednesday of December.

Once Biden reads the results to Congress, Obama's win is official and final. And he will move forward to his second inauguration, on Jan. 21.

The Electoral College process last fell under the microscope in 2000, when George W. Bush won the Electoral College, 271-266 (one voter abstained) even though Gore won the nation's popular vote.

Critics have long said the Electoral College is an antiquated system that disenfranchises voters nationwide. Gore and others have called for letting the popular vote determine the presidency.

"It's a terrible process," said George C. Edwards III, a political science professor at Oxford and at Texas A&M University in College Station. "The whole system is horrible and it violates basic norms.

"It's crazy and it's a terrible system," said Edwards, who has written the book Why the Electoral College is Bad for America. "It means there's no election in most of the country. ... The Electoral College forces candidates only to campaign in competitive states ... so places like Texas are ignored."

But R.E. "Royal" Smith is pleased to cast his vote today for Romney through the process.

"The Electoral College is a part of our overall political system and it's something we should cherish and maintain because our founding fathers planned it this way," said Smith, a World War II veteran and retired psychologist from Southlake. "I just feel like we need to hang on to the institutions that have created this great country.

"I feel like it's an honor to be an elector."

Reach Anna M. Tinsley at atinsley@star-telegram.com, Twitter: @annatinsley