Electoral College formally confirms that Joe Biden is the next president of the United States.

Updated 10 minutes ago

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS HAVE confirmed that Joe Biden is the next president of the United States, a formality that became more important this year due to Donald Trump’s refusal to admit that he lost his race for reelection.

President-elect Biden has passed the 270-vote threshold in the Electoral College tally, formalizing his victory in the presidential election.

In some states, there was greater security, as voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the six states where Biden won and Trump challenged, gave Democrat and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris their votes at discretion. . proceedings.

Nevada voters gathered via video link due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Today is the date set by law for the Electoral College meeting. Voters cast paper votes at meetings in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with masks, social distancing and other precautions against the virus.

The results will be sent to Washington and accounted for in a joint session of Congress on January 6 chaired by Vice President Mike Pence.

When all the votes are in, Biden is expected to have 306 electoral votes to 232 for Trump. It takes 270 to be elected.

In the popular vote count, Biden outscored the Republican by more than seven million votes across the country.

Former Maryland state senator Gloria Lawlah, in a state that Biden won easily, said the votes for the Democratic nomination were “a repudiation of hatred, a repudiation of division. It is an affirmation of benevolence, an affirmation of unity ”.

But not all Republicans were willing to say that the election was over, even with the casting of electoral votes. Trump has refused to budge and continues to make unsubstantiated fraud accusations.

There have been concerns about voter safety, virtually unheard of in previous years. In Michigan, lawmakers from both parties reported receiving threats.

Legislative offices were closed Monday because of threats of violence. All 16 voters will gather in the Senate chamber in a ceremony led by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Biden won the state by 154,000 votes, or 2.8 percentage points.

Georgia State Police were present at the state capitol in Atlanta before Democratic voters pledged themselves to Biden.

Even with confirmation of Biden’s victory by the Electoral College, some Republicans continued to refuse to acknowledge that reality, but their opposition to Biden had no practical effect on the electoral process, and the Democrat will take office on January 20.