Bloomberg and other U.S. media just reported that after the Electoral College confirmed Joe Biden’s victory on the 14th local time, Biden officially won the U.S. presidential election.
After receiving 55 electoral votes in California, the Wall Street Journal said that Democrat Biden received more than 270 electoral votes needed to stay in the White House.
The Electoral College hereby reconfirmed Joe Biden as the President-elect of the United States. CNN said that given Trump’s continuous attack on election results, Biden’s confirmation of victory is extremely important.
On the 14th local time, 50 states and the District of Washington, D.C., will hold an electoral college vote to officially confirm Biden as the next U.S. President. Traditionally, this vote has only been a symbolic procedure, but this year’s Electoral College vote is of particular concern because current U.S. President Trump and his allies have been denying and trying to overthrow the results of this year’s election.
On the Fox News program broadcast on the 13th, Trump said: “It’s not over yet. We will continue to (challenge the election results). The U.S. president’s supporters also didn’t give up, not only clashing with Trump’s opponents, but even burning anger at the Republican Party, threatening to destroy the party if it did not support Trump. Some experts worry that there may be armed conflict in the future of the United States.
The vote that determines Trump’s “fate”
According to CNN and The New York Times on the 13th, state voters will elect the president and vice president through paper ballots on Monday. The voting time vary from state to state. Some states vote at 10 a.m., but most states vote in the afternoon.
Polling locations are usually at the state Capitol, Delaware voters will meet at a stadium, and Nevada will hold online voting. Most states will provide live broadcasts of the election process. There are security measures around state capitols to prevent riots.
Biden won 306 electoral votes in this year’s election, far more than the 270 votes needed to enter the White House. Trump only got 232 votes. According to The New York Times, 33 states and the District of Washington, D.C., require voters to vote according to the general election results of the state, so these places should not be surprised.
Another 17 states do not restrict voters to vote, which means that they can vote for the people they choose. According to AFP, since 1948, 16 voters in the United States have not voted according to the general election results in their state. CNN commented that Monday’s Electoral College vote will test the resilience of the American political system and determine Trump’s fate.
According to the procedure, the voter will count the votes after voting, and the elector will sign the certificate to prove the result. These certificates will be matched with certificates provided by the Governor’s Office that publicize the total number of votes cast in the state.
These certificates are sent in six copies to Vice President Pence, state secretaries and others who are the president of the Senate. On January 6, the House of Representatives will hold a joint meeting to officially count the electoral votes and announce the winners. At this time, the election process of the new President of the United States will be completed.
Republican Party plans to challenge the voting results
Trump has still no intention to admit defeat so far. In an interview with Fox News, he stressed that he would continue to fight before the matter was over. Trump tweeted on the 13th that this year’s election is the most corrupt election in American history.
“How can states (governments) and politicians confirm the election when corruption and irregularities are recorded throughout?” The president of the United States also cast his anger on some Republicans, asking why they accepted “stupid mail-in votes” and accused some Republicans of allowing Democrats to openly “cheat” the people in an attempt to “steal” the election results.
The U.S. Supreme Court and Attorney General Barr have not escaped the president’s complaint. Trump said the Supreme Court disappointed him and asked Barr why he didn’t announce before the election that the judiciary was investigating Biden’s son.
Once the Electoral College vote is completed, Trump has the only way to overthrow the election results, which is to prevent Congress from confirming the vote count on January 6.
The New York Times explained that the voting counting process does not allow debate, but after the results are announced, members of Congress can challenge the results in writing. The two houses will debate the objection separately, and then vote to decide whether to reject the objectionable election results.
Conservative Congressman Brooks, a Republican, vowed to disagree when Congress considers the result next month. However, several media said that this approach is unlikely to succeed. Dissent must be passed by a simple majority in both houses of Congress in order to be established.
The Democratic Party controls the House, so Brooks is doomed to failure there. In the Senate, many Republicans have declared Biden President-designate.
Conflicts occur in many gatherings
The political and social tearing of the United States has also reached a very serious level in the dispute over the election results.
According to US media reports, Trump supporters held a march in some cities in the United States on the 12th to protest against the results of the presidential election. Later that day, far-right groups clashed with anti-Trump figures in Washington, D.C., where four people were stabbed and needed hospitalized, and police arrested 23. Violence also occurred in Olympia, the capital of Washington.
During the conflict, one person was shot and three people were arrested. In Washington, D.C. protests against the election results, Trump supporters even threatened to destroy the Republican Party if they did not do everything possible to keep Trump in power.
The Washington Post commented that Trump’s allegations of “election fraud” add fuel to potential violence. Michigan is one of the most polarized states in the United States. In recent days, tensions in the state have reached a boiling point. Representative Cynthia Johnson, an African-American state from Detroit, revealed that she had been threatened with violence on many occasions, including threats to lynching her.
Under the influence of Trump, there are increasing threats and intimidations against officials at the state and local levels, according to experts. Fisher, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland, said that it is not just people who blame each other on social media, but even take up arms. She believes that the United States is at risk of armed conflict.
According to the Financial Times on the 14th, senior Republicans worry that Trump’s refusal to accept the election results and encourages supporters to protest may undermine the party’s efforts to canvass for two senatorial candidates in Georgia.
Republicans such as Louisiana Senator Cassidy called on Trump to accept the election results. “If there is internal division, our country, our conservative movement and our party cannot stand up. For these reasons, at some point we must unite.”
