With prospects of a close U.S. presidential race, some speculate the election could be tipped by members of the Electoral College switching sides.

There’s zero prospect of that happening in Idaho, says Secretary of State Ben Ysursa.

“These are party loyalists,” Ysursa said Friday. “We don’t get into the ‘faithless electors’ scenario.”

That doesn’t mean Idaho Gov. Butch Otter may not get a call in December should Mitt Romney have a narrow edge.

In 2000, Ysursa said George W. Bush campaign chief Karl Rove called Gov. Dirk Kempthorne’s Chief of Staff Phil Reberger. “He wanted to be sure all our folks toed the line,” Ysursa said.

They did, as did every GOP elector, giving Bush a 271-266 win when they met, despite Gore’s 544,000-vote edge in the national popular vote.

The names of Electoral College electors will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot with the candidates. The electors meet Dec. 17 at the Idaho Capitol.

Who are they?

The Republicans: Travis Hawkes, Romney’s chief Idaho fundraiser; Department of Administration Director Teresa Luna and sister of Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna; Jason Risch, a lawyer and son of GOP Sen. Jim Risch; and Damond Watkins, spokesman for Melaleuca CEO Frank VanderSloot, a $1 million Romney backer.

The Democrats: Boise Mayor Dave Bieter, a former Democratic legislator; Bethine Church, widow of the late-Sen. Frank Church; former School Superintendent Marilyn Howard, the last Democrat to hold statewide office; and George Millward, a Pocatello union leader.

Electors will cast paper ballots and sign six original Certificates of Vote. Those certificates will be paired with Certificates of Ascertainment, listing names of electors and number of votes received, other candidates for elector and carrying the governor’s original signature (no Auto-pen signatures or stamps) and the state seal.

Vice President Joe Biden, as president of the Senate, gets one set of the documents; two go to the Archivist of the United States; two to Ysursa; and the last to U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill.

Dan Popkey: 377-6438, Twitter: @IDS_politics