Congress held a joint session in the House chambers today for the ceremonial counting of electoral votes. No spoiler alert needed here, as Barack Obama and Joe Biden received 365 electoral votes to 173 votes for John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Just about all Democratic Senate and House members were present, while a number of seats remained empty on the Republican side of the aisle. From this reporter's vantage point in the press gallery, McCain did not attend.

Each state's official electoral count arrived in similar-sized manilla envelopes (except for Ohio, which had an oversized and hard blue cover), before being read aloud in alphabetical order. All was quiet among the members and viewing galleries until California's 55 electoral votes were announced for Obama, drawing loud and enthusiastic cheers from the Democratic side of the aisle.

Besides Ohio's oversized package, one other moment drew chuckles from the members: Republican Sen. Robert Bennett of Utah, reading his state's electoral vote count, called his home the "rapidly growing state of Utah." Fellow Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch is co-sponsoring a bill that would give Utah a fourth congressional district, based on its increasing population, as well as give Washington, D.C., a full voting member in the House.

A show of nonpartisan unity erupted when Vice President Dick Cheney, likely making his last official appearance as head of the Senate, announced that Obama had won the necessary electoral votes to become president. A standing ovation came from members on both sides of the aisle, who gave a similar response for McCain as well.