Hoary Ceremony

Some innocent U.S. voters may have thought that they elected a President last month. Actually, they did not. The President was not legally elected until this week (on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December). In 48 State capitals, 48 sets of mildly self-conscious electors gathered. They solemnly chose a President of the U.S. for the next four years, then rushed their votes to Washington by registered mail.

Under the nation's creaky election system, even this act was not final. Technically, the President would not be duly elected until next Jan. 6 at 1 p.m., when the House & Senate will meet in joint session for a formal electoral vote count. But there was a strong probability that the final result, as announced on Jan. 6, would be: Roosevelt, 432; Dewey, 99.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.