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WASHINGTON: A mere formality for a long time, a vote on Monday (December 14) by members of the Electoral College to formally recognize Joe Biden as the next president of the United States has taken on unusual significance this year with Donald Trump stubbornly refusing to admit defeat.
The results of the November 3 vote have been certified by each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia; the Democrat won with a record 81.3 million votes, or 51.3 percent of those cast, compared to 74.2 million and 46.8 percent for the Republican president.
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But in the United States, the occupant of the White House is elected by indirect universal suffrage, and each state assigns its constituents, whose number is essentially based on population, to the candidate who won the state.
The results confirm an easy victory for Biden, with 306 of the 538 electoral votes, 232 for Trump, with 270 needed for the election.
Members of the Electoral College meet on Monday to formalize the process, although voters actually meet separately in each state.
Then Biden will deliver an evening speech to celebrate the latest confirmation of his victory and “the strength and endurance” of American democracy, a clear blow to Trump’s unprecedented stance.
Voters are local political officials or activists, civil society figures, or friends of the candidates.
Most are unknown to the general public, although national personalities occasionally participate, such as Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in the 2016 election but who will vote on Monday in New York to confirm President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
NO TRUMP CONCESSION
Although there have been some “unfaithful voters” in recent years who voted for someone other than the candidate who won their state, there have never been enough to change the outcome of an election.
So Biden’s victory will be even more official on Monday.
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But Trump, still the legal occupant of the White House through January 20, has continued to make unsubstantiated claims that the November vote was the “MOST CORRUPT CHOICE IN US HISTORY,” as the Sunday.
He added: “How do states and politicians confirm an election where corruption and irregularities are documented at all times?”
In fact, his campaign has failed to document any widespread fraud, and his legal challenges to the vote, in dozens of lawsuits, heard by dozens of judges, have virtually all been dismissed, often in scathing language.
A MAXIMUM HUMILIATION
In a final humiliation, the Supreme Court of the United States, despite having a conservative majority secured by three Trump appointees, on Friday flatly refused to even consider two Republican challenges to the vote.
There are a large number of Republican lawmakers who back Trump’s false claims of fraud.
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Some may finally be willing to acknowledge Biden’s victory once the Electoral College ratifies it.
But with polls showing that only one in four Republican voters accept the election results as valid, Trump is not expected to relent anytime soon.
“WE HAVE STARTED TO FIGHT !!!” tweeted.
This weekend, when asked on Fox News if he would attend Biden’s January 20 inauguration, as required by protocol and centuries of tradition, the former real estate mogul replied, “I don’t want to talk about it.” .
The president could still seek to use the lengthy U.S. transition process in a last-ditch attempt to reverse the outcome: Some elected officials allied with Trump have speculated about contesting the outcome on January 6 when Congress formally validates the Electoral Congress recount.
Such a maneuver has practically no chance of success.
Regardless, Trump’s fight against a repeatedly confirmed outcome seems certain to leave Biden facing a stiff challenge with the country more divided than ever.
