The US Electoral College started gathering on Monday across the country to cast their votes in one of the last procedural milestones of the presidential race, which is set to reaffirm President-elect Joe Biden's win
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th December, 2020) The US Electoral College started gathering on Monday across the country to cast their votes in one of the last procedural milestones of the presidential race, which is set to reaffirm President-elect Joe Biden's win.Mirroring the popular choices of their states, the 538 electors are expected to hand the Democratic candidate 306 votes - far above the victory threshold of 270 - with the Republican incumbent Donald Trump getting the remaining 232 endorsements. Electoral College meetings are taking place in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Electors were appointed in advance by both main parties and include acting and retired officials or aspiring politicians, such as former President Bill Clinton in New York, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers and Georgia former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
Those who pledged for the Republican incumbent meet in capitals of states carried by Trump, while Biden's electors are summoned for voting where the Democratic candidate emerged victorious, as per a certified popular tally. Moreover, in 32 states and the District of Columbia, local laws explicitly require electors to vote for the popular-vote winner, an arrangement upheld by the Supreme Court in July.
Each elector casts two paper ballots - one for President and the other one for Vice President. Votes are then tallied and sent to US Congress for verification at a joint session presided over by the incumbent Vice President Mike Pence on January 6.
Federal lawmakers can raise objections, but it would take a bicameral majority for the dissenting opinion to matter, an unlikely outcome with the Democratic-led House of Representatives and the Senate controlled by Republicans.
While Biden is already widely referred to as president-elect and busy with the transition, Trump refuses to concede and disputes the validity of the election, accusing his rivals of massive fraud. Trump's bid to overturn his defeat suffered a major setback last Friday, when the US Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit seeking to bar Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, whose votes tipped the scales in favor of Biden, from participating in the Electoral College.
