WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Joe Biden was formally elected as the next president of the United States by members of the electoral college on Monday, all but ending Donald Trump’s unprecedented bid to subvert the will of millions of Americans and overturn the results of the presidential election.
With California’s 55 electoral votes, Biden crossed the 270-vote threshold needed to win the White House, a milestone that moves him one procedural step closer to his inauguration on Jan 20 despite Trump’s refusal to accept his defeat and concede the race.
The president-elect will address the electoral college vote count in a speech to the nation on Monday night, capping a day marked by heightened security, some political theater and an unusual level of public interest in the constitutionally-mandated affair.
“In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed,” Biden will say, according to excerpts released by his transition team. “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.”
Traditionally an afterthought, the meeting of the electoral college has taken on added importance this year because of the president’ sustained efforts to undermine the results of a democratic election.
Despite an extraordinarily unsuccessful legal campaign to challenge the results in state and federal court, Trump has continued to claim without evidence that the vote was corrupted by fraud and irregularities.
With an escalation of threats and the promises of protests outside statehouses where the presidential electors gathered, officials took extra steps to ensure the their safety.
In Michigan, lawmakers closed the Capitol building to the public as electors voted on Monday, citing credible threats of violence. Wisconsin also closed its Capitol building, ushering in electors through a side entrance for their security. Electors in Arizona met at an “undisclosed location” due to threats there.
Yet the process was relatively seamless, as electors from all 50 states and the nation’s capital cast their ballots in a process that will conclude when Hawaii votes at roughly 7pm ET. Biden is scheduled to deliver his remarks shortly thereafter. — NNN-AGENCIES
