United States presidential election in Maryland, 2000

United States presidential election in Maryland, 2000

November 7, 2000

Nominee Al Gore George W. Bush Party Democratic Republican Home state Tennessee Texas Running mate Joe Lieberman Dick Cheney Electoral vote 10 0 Popular vote 1,145,782 813,797 Percentage 56.6% 40.2%

County Results   Gore—80-90%   Gore—70-80%   Gore—60-70%   Gore—50-60%   Gore—<50%   Bush—50-60%   Bush—60-70%   Bush—70-80%

President before election Bill Clinton Democratic Elected President George W. Bush Republican

The 2000 United States presidential election in Maryland took place on November 7, 2000. Maryland participated in the 2000 presidential election along with the 49 other U.S. states and Washington, D.C. Voters chose 10 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for the President and Vice President.

Maryland was easily won by Vice President Al Gore by a safe margin of victory. Gore's victory in the state is contributed to his strong performance the highest populated counties of the states, which is the home of many urban and African American communities. Maryland was also the only state in the election, along with Washington, D.C., to swing more Democratic than it had been in 1996, even though Gore improved percentage wise in several other states from the last election.^[1]

Results

United States presidential election in Maryland, 2000
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Al Gore	Joe Lieberman	1,145,782	56.6%	10
	Republican	George W. Bush	Dick Cheney	813,797	40.2%	0
	Green	Ralph Nader	Winona LaDuke	53,768	2.7%	0
	Libertarian	Harry Browne	Wayne Allyn Root	5,310	0.3%	0
	Reform	Pat Buchanan	Ezola Foster	4,248	0.2%	0
	Write Ins			1,480	0.1%	0
	Constitution	Howard Phillips	Michael Peroutka	919	0.1%	0
	Write In	John Hagelin	–	176	0.0%	0
Totals				–	100.00%	10
Voter turnout (Voting age/Registered)						51%/74%

Electors

Technically the voters of Maryland cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Maryland is allocated 10 electors because it has 8 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 10 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 10 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for President and Vice President. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.

The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 18, 2000^[2] to cast their votes for President and Vice President. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.

The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All were pledged to and voted for Gore and Lieberman:^[3]

1. Clarence W. Blount
2. Gene W. Counihan
3. Howard Friedman
4. Mary Ann E. Love
5. Thomas V. Mike Miller
6. Mary Butler Murphy
7. Mary Jo Neville
8. Gregory Pecoraro
9. Ina Taylor
10. Beatrice P. Tignor

References

1. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved on 2011-06-17.
2. 2000 Post-Election Timeline of Events. Uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved on 2011-06-17.
3. 2000. President Elect. Retrieved on 2011-06-17.