Source: The Washington Post / Getty
The Electoral College confirmed Democrat Joe Biden as the next president of the United States of America on Monday. The official vote ratified the former Vice President’s victory with a 306-vote majority despite President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede the election results.
The electors went state-by-state falling in-line with the projections from November’s tally, leaving Trump with a total of 232 votes, the same amount that Hillary Clinton lost with in 2016.
Groups of protesters showed up to meet electors in several states with the same message Trump and his campaign have repeated over the past month that the election was rigged. “Heightened security was in place in some states as electors met to cast paper ballots, with masks, social distancing and other pandemic precautions the order of the day,” according the Associated Press.
“Once again in America, the rule of law, our Constitution, and the will of the people have prevailed. Our democracy — pushed, tested, threatened — proved to be resilient, true, and strong,” Biden said in a speech Monday evening.
Biden received the most amount of votes in U.S. history with a total of over 81 million, topping Trump by a 7 million vote margin nationwide. California’s 55 electoral votes put Biden over the top with the required 270 votes for the presidency.
The votes will now be sent to Washington, D.C. where a joint session of Congress will approve the total on Jan. 6.
