Vera Davis—married to U.S. Representative Danny Davis—first served as an elector in 2000. She says there’s always a dinner the night before, at an Italian restaurant in Springfield. The next day— always a Monday, by law—they go to a room at the state Capitol building. “They will give us a ballot, we will check our ballot,” she said. “Someone will collect it, and someone will announce the results… And then we’re free to go home.”

The whole thing takes about 20 minutes. The Illinois Secretary of State sends out two copies of the official results: one to the office of the Vice President and one to the National Archives.

WBEZ’s Dan Weissmann takes us along.