Joe Biden clears 270-vote mark as electors affirm his victory

The Electoral College gave Joe Biden a majority of its votes on December 14, confirming his victory in last month’s election in state-by-state voting that took on added importance this year because of President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede he lost.

Also read: Violence erupts at pro-Trump rallies in U.S.

California’s 55 electoral votes put Mr. Biden over the top, clearing the 270-vote mark that affirmed he will be the nation’s next President.

There was little suspense and no surprises as all the electoral votes allocated to Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump in last month’s popular vote went to each man.

In Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — the six battleground states that Mr. Biden won and Mr. Trump contested — electors gave Mr. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris their votes on Monday in low-key proceedings. Nevada’s electors met via Zoom because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Also read: US Supreme Court rejects lawsuit to overturn presidential election results

When all the votes are in, Mr. Biden was expected to have 306 electoral votes to 232 for Mr. Trump. Hawaii was the only state that had yet to vote. Mr. Biden topped Mr. Trump by more than 7 million votes nationwide.

“In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed,” Mr. Biden said in remarks prepared for an evening speech. “We the people voted. Faith in our institutions held. The integrity of our elections remains intact. And so, now it is time to turn the page. To unite. To heal.”

(Here’s a graphic on how the Electoral College works)

Mr. Biden renewed his campaign promise to be a President for all Americans, whether they voted for him or not, and said the country has hard work ahead on the virus and economy.

Former Maryland state Sen. Gloria Lawlah, in a state Mr. Biden won easily, said the votes for the Democratic ticket were “a repudiation of hate, a repudiation of divisiveness”.

Also read: Donald Trump says he will leave the White House if Electoral College votes for Joe Biden

But not everyone was ready to say the election was over, even with the casting of electoral votes. Mr. Trump has refused to concede and continues to make unsupported allegations of fraud.

There have been concerns about safety for the electors, virtually unheard of in previous years. In Michigan, lawmakers from both parties reported receiving threats, and legislative offices were closed over threats of violence. Mr. Biden won the state by 1,54,000 votes, or 2.8 percentage points, over Mr. Trump.

Georgia state police were out in force at the state Capitol in Atlanta before Democratic electors pledged to Mr. Biden met. There were no protesters seen.

Even with the Electoral College’s confirmation of Mr. Biden’s victory, some Republicans continued to refuse to acknowledge that reality. Yet their opposition to Mr. Biden had no practical effect on the electoral process, with the Democrat to be sworn in on Jan. 20.

Also read: Trump’s actions sending ‘incredibly damaging’ message to world, says Biden

Despite Mr. Biden’s wins in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, Republicans who would have been Trump electors met anyway. Pennsylvania Republicans said they cast a “procedural vote” for Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence in case courts that have repeatedly rejected challenges to Mr. Biden’s victory were to somehow still determine that Mr. Trump had won.

In North Carolina, Utah and other states across the country where Mr. Trump won, his electors turned out to duly cast their ballots for him. Electors in North Carolina had their temperatures checked before being allowed to enter the Capitol to vote. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes withdrew as a Trump elector and was in quarantine because he was exposed to someone with COVID-19.

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whom Mr. Trump defeated four years ago, were among New York’s 29 electors for Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris.

In New Hampshire, before the state’s four electors voted for Mr. Biden at the State House in Concord, 13-year-old Brayden Harrington led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. He had delivered a moving speech at the Democratic National Convention in August about the struggle with stuttering he shares with Mr. Biden.

Vermont’s electors were the first in the nation to vote on Monday and they chose Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris.

Mr. Biden will address the nation on Monday night, after the electors have voted. Mr. Trump, meanwhile, is clinging to his false claims that he won the election, and trying to undermine Mr. Biden’s presidency before it begins.

“No, I worry about the country having an illegitimate President, that’s what I worry about. A President that lost and lost badly,” Mr. Trump said in a Fox News interview that was taped on Saturday.

Following weeks of Republican legal challenges that were easily dismissed by judges, Mr. Trump and Republican allies tried to persuade the Supreme Court last week to set aside 62 electoral votes for Mr. Biden in four states, which might have thrown the outcome into doubt.

The justices rejected the effort on Friday.

In 32 states and the District of Columbia, laws require electors to vote for the popular-vote winner. The Supreme Court unanimously upheld this arrangement in July.

Electors almost always vote for the state winner anyway because they generally are devoted to their political parties. There was no reason to expect any defections this year.

The Electoral College was the product of compromise during the drafting of the Constitution between those who favoured electing the President by popular vote and those who opposed giving the people the power to directly choose their leader.

Each state gets a number of electors equal to its total number of seats in Congress — two senators plus however many members the state has in the House of Representatives. Washington, D.C., has three votes, under a constitutional amendment that was ratified in 1961. With the exception of Maine and Nebraska, states award all their Electoral College votes to the winner of the popular vote in their state.

The bargain struck by the nation’s founders has produced five elections in which the President did not win the popular vote. Mr. Trump was the most recent example in 2016.