It's Florida in an election year, so it's not implausible that the fate of U.S. democracy will depend on Miami-Dade Commissioner Jean Monestime or state Sen. Anitere Flores.
Monestime and Flores are both presidential electors nominated by their parties -- Monestime by the Democrats, Flores by the Republicans -- to represent Florida in the Electoral College, where the presidency is really decided.
Technically, voters really aren't voting for president on Tuesday: They are voting for a slate of 29 "electors" representing either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney. Depending on who wins on Tuesday, their respective electors will meet on Dec. 17 to formally submit their electoral votes to Washington.
Electors tend to be local politicians or party activists, and the largely ceremonial positions have been used in the past to reward supporters or contributors. For example, in 2008, the state Republican party's electors included Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rothstein, a Charlie Crist contributor later convicted of using his law firm to carry out a $1-billion-plus Ponzi scheme.
See after the jump for a full list of the 2012 electors.
Florida Democratic Party:
Republican Party of Florida:
--SCOTT HIAASEN
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