# The Electoral College votes on 19 December, but when are the results made public? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 11, 2016, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-electoral-college-votes-on-19-december-but-when-are-the-results-made-public/774464 "2016-12-11T20:19:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![johnboy3434](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/db5fbb/32.png) [@johnboy3434](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnboy3434)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-electoral-college-votes-on-19-december-but-when-are-the-results-made-public/774464/1 "2016-12-11T20:19:51Z")
Title says it all. Immediately following the vote on 19 December, copies of the vote are sent to the respective Secretaries of State, the Vice President, and the National Archives. The official count is made by Congress on 6 January. However, I haven’t been able to find any info on whether or not the Secretaries of State can (or normally do) make the electoral vote public before the official count. Any clarification from you guys? It just seems odd that it would be kept secret for nearly three weeks when every other aspect of the election is made public almost immediately. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-electoral-college-votes-on-19-december-but-when-are-the-results-made-public/774464/2 "2016-12-11T21:12:48Z")
I don’t know how all states do it, but in 2004 when one of Minnesota’s electors voted for John “Ewards” instead of John Kerry, it was known almost immediately. > **[MPR: Minnesota elector gives Edwards a vote; Kerry gets other nine](http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2004/12/13_ap_electors/)** > > \- One of Minnesota's 10 presidential electors broke from the pack and cast a vote Monday for John Edwards, the Democratic vice presidential running mate for John Kerry. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-electoral-college-votes-on-19-december-but-when-are-the-results-made-public/774464/3 "2016-12-12T05:10:25Z")
The process on December 19 is spelled out under the subsection “Meetings” in the following Wiki section of its article on the Electoral Congress: [Electors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_College_(United_States)#Electors) ---
**Author:** ![johnboy3434](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/db5fbb/32.png) [@johnboy3434](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnboy3434)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-electoral-college-votes-on-19-december-but-when-are-the-results-made-public/774464/4 "2016-12-14T01:29:00Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > The process on December 19 is spelled out under the subsection “Meetings” in the following Wiki section of its article on the Electoral Congress: [Electors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_College_(United_States)#Electors) That doesn’t answer my question, though. When are the minutes made public? As soon as the meeting ends? Not until 6 January? Sometime in between? ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-electoral-college-votes-on-19-december-but-when-are-the-results-made-public/774464/5 "2016-12-14T14:56:40Z")
> [@johnboy3434](#): > > That doesn’t answer my question, though. When are the minutes made public? As soon as the meeting ends? Not until 6 January? Sometime in between? It depends on what you mean by “the minutes.” The votes are “opened” and counted on January 6 starting at 1 PM Eastern, in a joint session of Congress. Since it is held in the House chamber, I am assuming C-SPAN will air it live. (Definitely C-SPAN or C-SPAN 2.) Other news networks may cover it as well, especially if they smell a story developing. As for which electors vote for which candidate (in states where the vote is not unanimous), I don’t know if that is ever made public. You might try the Congress website ([www.congress.gov](http://www.congress.gov)), as it might be in, say, the Congressional Record; I’ll check to see if the 2012 votes are listed anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-electoral-college-votes-on-19-december-but-when-are-the-results-made-public/774464/6 "2016-12-14T15:04:07Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > As for which electors vote for which candidate (in states where the vote is not unanimous), I don’t know if that is ever made public. You might try the Congress website ([www.congress.gov](http://www.congress.gov)), as it might be in, say, the Congressional Record; I’ll check to see if the 2012 votes are listed anywhere. The names of the electors, and whom each one voted for, [will appear in the Federal Register](https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/2016/). They may or may not be available before January 6.