Congress officially declares Obama president

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama is officially the next president of the United States, Congress declared Thursday in fulfilling its centuries-old constitutional duty to certify and tally the electoral college vote from each state.

Republicans joined Democrats in a standing ovation as Vice President Dick Cheney, in his role as speaker of the Senate, announced from the podium that Obama had achieved a majority of votes and would be the 44th president on Jan. 20.

Speaking before a joint session of the House and Senate, Cheney confirmed the results of the Nov. 4 election, that Obama and next Vice President Joe Biden had received 365 electoral votes while the Republican ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin garnered 173 votes.

"Pursuant to the Constitution and laws of the United States, the Senate and House of Representatives are meeting in joint session to verify the certificates and count the votes of the electors of the several states," Cheney intoned in opening up the session.

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, was one of four "tellers," two members each from the House and Senate, who read off the votes from each state. Ironically, the first four states read in alphabetical order — Alabama, Alaska, Arizona and Arkansas — all gave their votes to McCain and Palin.

A cheer went up when the next state, California, gave its 55 votes to Obama and Biden.

Bennett said about helping in the vote count, "Even though it has become nothing but a formality, for a history buff like me it is exciting to be part of the constitutional process by which the votes for president and vice president are officially counted."

Bennett also produced a few chuckles when he announced the vote from "the fast-growing state of Utah," instead of just saying "Utah."

Another note of levity in the otherwise formal and scripted ceremony came as teller Rep. Robert Brady, D-Pa., brought forth some laughs when he read out that the vote from Ohio, a focus of voter disputes in recent elections, "appears to be regular in form and authentic."

Cheney led a Senate delegation into the House chamber along with teenage pages carrying two mahogany boxes containing the certified vote totals of each state.

He sat on the podium next to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, carrying out what could be his last act as president of the Senate. He handed the certificates from each state's electors to the four tellers to be read off and tallied.

The reading took about 30 minutes.