Utah's five electoral votes were formally cast Monday for President Bush.

Five Republicans, including Gov. Olene Walker, met at the State Capitol to make the president's November victory in Utah official. Bush won 71.5 percent of the popular vote in Utah, his biggest margin in any state this election year.

"It may seem somewhat routine or ceremonial, but in reality it's part of the process," Walker told an audience that included several dozen high school students from Utah and Wyoming before the ballots were marked.

There was no doubting the outcome, since state law required the five electors appointed by the state Republican Party last August to vote for Bush. The process was repeated in the other 49 states Monday and the results will be tallied on Jan. 6 by the president of the Senate.

Besides Walker, the other electors chosen by the GOP were Lt. Gov. Gayle McKeachnie, state Republican Party Chairman Joe Cannon, Provo Mayor Lewis Billings, and Scott Simpson of Kaysville.

McKeachnie said the Electoral College is especially important to smaller states like Utah. "Without the Electoral College, we would have a popular vote and individual states would have less say in our government," the lieutenant governor said.