Obama Eyes Omaha to Split Neb. Votes

State-level apportioning is the only viable way towards electing the president by popular vote

(NEWSER) - The 538 electors chosen to represent the will of the people cast their ballots for president today, officially ending the contest between Barack Obama and John McCain, writes Randall Lane for the New York Times. The otherwise-predictable ritual included a twist: a Nebraska elector voting for the candidate who won his congressional district (Obama), not the statewide vote (McCain). More»

Dem will get slice of state's 5

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama has won a single Nebraska electoral vote in post-election counting, the first time the state has split the vote since a 1991 law allowed the practice, the AP reports. No Democrat has gotten a vote in the state since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. More»

Democrats would love to have state's 34 electoral votes back

(NEWSER) - Rick Perry’s talk of seceding from the union might seem crazy, but calling the Texas governor's bluff would be a great deal for Democrats, writes Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com. Consider:

• Democrats would suddenly have a filibuster-proof majority in the 98-seat Senate.
• Republicans would lose eight more House members than Democrats.
• George W. Bush would never have been elected.

Omaha may have to wait a week for results

(NEWSER) - Nebraska was never a swing state, but its unique system of assigning electoral votes has left it with a surprising question mark after election night. The 2nd Congressional District, which includes Omaha, remains too close to call, with John McCain leading President-elect Barack Obama by 569 votes. And 9,000 provisional and early ballots are still uncounted, reports the Omaha World-Herald. More»

(NEWSER) - In the race to 270, John McCain came up short, but turned a chunk of the map red, kicking things off by scoring 8 electoral votes in Kentucky and winning much on the South. Here's what the McCain/Palin ticket took:

• Kentucky (8)
• South Carolina (8)
• Oklahoma (7)
• Tennessee (11)