Barack Obama's election win in Connecticut became official Monday as the state's Electoral College unanimously cast its seven votes for the nation's 44th president.

The event at the state Capitol was largely ceremonial. State voters overwhelming chose Obama over Republican Sen. John McCain on Nov. 4, and Connecticut electors gave Obama the state victory.

Other electors nationwide held similar ceremonies, as required by the Constitution, and formally elected Obama.

Yet knowing the outcome did not make Monday's event in Hartford any less emotional for many who came to watch.

"I never thought this day would happen. The election is one thing, but it's really official when they seal those ballots with wax and send them off," said 81-year-old retired dentist Sedrick Rawlins.

Rawlins, of Manchester, said he had traveled to Selma, Ala., in 1965 to help Martin Luther King Jr. in a voting-rights movement for black Americans. He wept when Obama won the election in November and, on Monday, couldn't stop smiling as Connecticut's Democratic electors unanimously picked the Illinois Democrat for president.

Connecticut has a winner-take-all system in presidential elections. Since Obama won the state, Republican electors could not participate in Monday's event.

The ceremony attracted hundreds of students, public officials and other observers. The results now go to the nation's Capitol for a joint session of Congress on Jan. 8 to officially count ballots from all 50 states.

Connecticut's seven electors range from local Democratic party leaders to Wolcott's tax collector and a New Haven alderman.

Ken Delacruz, an elector who is president of the Metal Trades Council union at the Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, said the excitement among his fellow Democrats is palpable. read more