SPRINGFIELD - In a largely ceremonial event Monday, Illinois' Electoral College representatives unanimously voted Barack Obama for president.

After the Democrat collected more than 61 percent of his home state's vote in November, the Monday results weren't in doubt. The winner of the popular vote in Illinois is awarded all the state's electoral votes, the number of which is determined by the total senators and representatives.

Still, some of the state's top Democrats gathered to give the state's 21 electoral votes to Obama and his vice presidential running mate Joe Biden of Delaware.

"Today, we celebrate a vote for America," said Secretary of State Jesse White, who presided over the beginning of the ceremony.

In all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the 538 electors performed a constitutional process to legally elect Obama the 44th president.

More than 131 million voters cast ballots, but Obama's election is not complete until Congress tallies the outcome of Monday's Electoral College vote at a joint session, scheduled for Jan. 6. The Electoral College process occasionally has been criticized by officials who want the president elected by the U.S. popular vote.

"For all of my objections to the Electoral College, and there are many, I'm thrilled to be part of it today," said Illinois House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago.

The festivities for Obama came as his home state is operating under a cloud because of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's arrest on federal corruption charges last week.

In fact, before the ceremony began, a White spokesman handed reporters a statement in which the secretary of state called for Blagojevich's resignation.

mike.riopell@lee.net or|789-0865