Updated 2:55 PM
ALBANY (AP) -- The 31 members of New York state's electoral college voted unanimously Monday to make Barack Obama the next U.S. president.
The college also unanimously voted for Obama's vice presidential choice, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware.
Gov. David Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and Alan Lubin, the executive vice president of the New York State United Teachers union, were among the electors voting for Obama.
Obama won about 62 percent of New York's popular vote in last month's general election. The largely ceremonial procedure is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. The popular vote winner in New York wins all its electoral votes.
Each state has electors equal to their number of representatives and senators. New York has 29 House members and the two senators.
Final figures from nearly every state and the District of Columbia showed that more than 131 million people voted, the most ever for a presidential election. A little more than 122 million voted in 2004.
This year's total is 61.6 percent of the nation's eligible voters, the highest turnout rate since 1968, when Republican Richard Nixon defeated Democrat Hubert Humphrey. Four years ago, 60.1 percent of those eligible voted.
(Copyright ©2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
