WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Electoral College met on Monday to officially elect Barack Obama as the next president of the United States.

Meeting in state capitals across the country, members of the Electoral College were expected to give Democrat Obama 365 votes and his Republican rival John McCain 173 votes.

In U.S. elections, the winner of the popular vote -- Obama in this case with nearly 67 million votes -- does not necessarily win the presidency.

That decision falls to the 538 members of the Electoral College, party faithful allotted to each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on their representation in the U.S. Congress or population.

In most cases, the winner of the state's popular vote gets all of the state's electoral votes, which range from three for the least populated to 55 for California. Nebraska and Maine have a proportional system of awarding electors.

The college votes will be certified by the U.S. Congress on January 8. Obama will be sworn in as president on January 20.