2020 race: Electoral College confirms Joe Biden as president

Joe Biden canes Trump for ‘refusing to respect’ the will of the people but the election proved democracy was ‘true and strong’.

Joe Biden embraces his wife Dr. Jill Biden after speaking about the Electoral College vote certification process. Picture: AFP.

After being confirmed as President-elect by the Electoral College, Joe Biden has told Americans the election proved that US democracy was “resilient, true and strong,” but it was now time to move on and unite the country.

Mr Biden said more Americans had voted than in the history of the country, with more than 81 million cast for him and Kamala Harris out of a total of 150m.

In a 10 minute speech, he reached out to the millions of Americans who had not voted for him but stressed that Donald Trump’s legal challenges had all failed.

In his strongest criticism since the election, Mr Biden said the president had defied the constitution and the “will of the people” in not accepting the results.

“It’s a position so extreme we’ve never seen it before. A position that refused to respect the will of the people, refused to respect the rule of law, and refused to honor our constitution,” Mr Biden said.

The Supreme Court sent a “clear signal” to the president that he had lost, he said. “I hope never again to see anyone subjected to the kind of threats and abuse we saw in this election.”

He added: “In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed. We the people voted. Faith in our institutions held. The integrity of our elections remains intact. And so, now it is time to turn the page. To unite. To heal.”

He went on to lay out the work that will be at the top of his agenda in the early days of his administration: the battle against the coronavirus pandemic, and rebuilding the economy.

Marking a grim milestone of 300,000 deaths from the coronavirus, he said: “My heart goes out to each of you in this dark winter of the pandemic.”

“There is urgent work in front of all of us,” he said. “Getting the pandemic under control to getting the nation vaccinated against this virus. Delivering immediate economic help so badly needed by so many Americans who are hurting today -- and then building our economy back better than ever.”

Biden formally wins election, Barr goes

Joe Biden has formally won the 2020 presidential election after electoral college voters awarded him victory over Donald Trump.

But the president’s aides say he intends to keep fighting to overturn the outcome of the election up until Mr Biden is inaugurated as president on 20 January.

Electoral college members cast their votes officially for Mr Biden and Mr Trump during ceremonies around the country. When California voted Mr Biden secured the 270 electoral votes needed to become president. When voting ends later today he will win 306 votes to Mr Trump’s 232 votes.

The members cast their votes while wearing masks and keeping socially distanced in legislative buildings. In some cases they did so amid heavy security after threats were received in some states such as Michigan about possible violence accompanying the vote.

But in the end, each of the 538 electoral college members voted in accordance with the wishes of the voters in their states.

The casting of electoral college votes is traditionally a formality which receives little attention, but it has been thrust into the spotlight by Mr Trump’s refusal to accept that he lost the November 3 poll.

The final vote makes it all but impossible for the president to overturn the result in the courts, although he has promised to continue his legal fight regardless.

Mr Biden will formally become the president-elect on January 6 when a joint session of Congress counts the electoral college votes and announces them to Congress.

Although some members of Congress can then dispute the results on that day, the Democrats have a majority which will ensure that Mr Biden becomes the country’s 46th president.

Minutes after the Electoral College declared Mr Biden’s victory, Donald Trump tweeted that Attorney-General William Barr would be leaving his post on Christmas Eve.

Mr Barr incurred the president’s wrath recently by confirming there was no evidence of fraud in the election.

Just had a very nice meeting with Attorney General Bill Barr at the White House. Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job! As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2020

...Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen, an outstanding person, will become Acting Attorney General. Highly respected Richard Donoghue will be taking over the duties of Deputy Attorney General. Thank you to all! pic.twitter.com/V5sqOJT9PM

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2020

Mr Trump tweeted today: “Just had a very nice meeting with Attorney-General Bill Barr at the White House. Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job! As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family.”

He announced that Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen, would become Acting Attorney General.

Biden to declare it time to unite, heal

President-elect Joe Biden will declare it time to “turn the page, to unite, to heal” in a speech at 11.30am (AEDT) the Electoral College formalises his victory over Donald Trump.

Excerpts from his speech released by his transition team reveal Mr Biden will put controlling the pandemic and reigniting the economy at the top of his agenda.

“In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed,” Mr Biden will say. “We the people voted. Faith in our institutions held. The integrity of our elections remains intact. And so, now it is time to turn the page. To unite. To heal.”

Speaking from his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, Mr Biden will detail the work that will dominate the early days of his administration

“There is urgent work in front of all of us,” he will say. “Getting the pandemic under control to getting the nation vaccinated against this virus. Delivering immediate economic help so badly needed by so many Americans who are hurting today -- and then building our economy back better than ever.”

Trump Team: We’ll fight until January 20

Donald Trump’s senior adviser has insisted that Team Trump will continue to fight the election results right up until Inauguration day, January 20.

Some weeks ago Mr Trump vowed to leave the White House if the Electoral College voted for Mr Biden today. “Certainly I will,” he replied when asked by a reporter. “And you know that.”

Trump Campaign Senior Advisor Stephen Miller: "We have more than enough time to right the wrong of this fraudulent election result." pic.twitter.com/Qw8RsG22w7

— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) December 14, 2020

But Stephen Miller told Fox News this morning (AEDT): “The only date in the Constitution is January 20. We have more than enough time to right the result of this fraudulent election.”

Despite the fact that the electoral college, which began casting their formal votes early this morning (AEDT) formalises Joe Biden as president elect, Mr Miller said: “All of our legal remedies remain open.”

When the formal votes were sent up to Congress, that was not so much formalisation of Mr Biden’s win, he said but a chance for Congress to “do the right thing” and recognise Mr Trump as winner of the election.

States cast formal electoral college votes

States have begun casting their formal electoral college votes in a move that will officially record Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election.

All members of the electoral college voters are expected to cast their votes in line with the election outcome, giving Mr Biden 306 votes to Donald Trump’s 232 votes.

Each state is currently casting their votes in ceremonies across the nation. Several disputed states – such as Georgia and Pennsylvania – have already completed the process early Tuesday (AEDT), casting their state’s votes for Mr Biden despite Mr Trump’s claims that he won in those states.

Once all votes are cast, Mr Biden will give a speech which his team said would focus on “the strength and resilience” of American Democracy.

Once the electoral college has cast its votes, there will be almost no legal avenue for the president to pursue to overturn the election. More than 40 legal lawsuits across six states filed by the Trump legal team have failed to uncover election fraud.

Despite this, Mr Trump has vowed to continue his legal campaign to overturn the results of what he claimed was a “rigged election.”

The electoral college votes cast on Tuesday will be formally counted by Congress on January 6.

Mr Biden will be inaugurated as America’s 46th president on January 20.

Electoral College formally casting votes across US

The Electoral College, meeting in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, is formally casting votes Tuesday (AEDT) for president, as the incumbent — with the backing of many Republicans — continues to dispute November’s election results.

Traditionally tranquil affairs, this year’s meetings have taken on added significance as President Trump has repeatedly questioned an electoral-vote outcome that shows him at 232 and President-elect Joe Biden at 306. It takes 270 votes to win.

In most of the states that held gatherings Monday morning the process took less than an hour. The first wave of electors convened in Indiana, New Hampshire, Tennessee and Vermont at 10am Eastern time (2am Tuesday AEDT), while Hawaii wasn’t scheduled to start its process until nine hours later.

Nevada was the first of the top 2020 battlegrounds to have its electors cast votes. Electors there awarded their votes to Mr. Biden, in accordance with the Nov. 3 election results.

Added security measures were adopted by some states amid a tense national political climate and COVID-19 restrictions. The majority of electors in the first set of states were wearing masks and some meetings were being held in mostly closed capitol buildings with few observers, although many of the proceedings were streamed live online.

Supporters of Donald Trump protest the results in Washington. Picture: AFP.

Mr. Biden is expected to deliver remarks about the Electoral College results Monday evening in Wilmington, Delaware, which will give him another opportunity to declare victory.

The president-elect’s home-state electors met in an arena on the campus of Delaware State University in Dover. As was the case in many states, the secretary of state administered the process.

“We could not be more proud to send one of our own to lead this nation,” said Delaware Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock. “We wish the new administration the courage and judgment to lead us through this long dark winter.”

On Friday, the Supreme Court rejected a long-shot bid filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to void 20 million votes in four other states. More than 100 House Republicans signed a brief in support of the lawsuit, which was Mr. Trump’s latest attempt to overturn election results and came after dozens of other failed efforts to overturn Mr. Biden’s win.

Some of the other Republicans who haven’t publicly acknowledged Mr. Biden’s victory have said the legal process should continue and that any voting problems should be investigated. However, Attorney General William Barr has said the Justice Department hasn’t found evidence of widespread voter fraud.

“There will be a president sworn in on Jan. 20, but let’s let this legal process play itself out,” Rep. Steve Scalise (R., La.) said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Other Republicans have said the president should accept Mr. Biden’s win. “The courts have resolved the disputes. It looks very much like the electors will vote for Joe Biden,” retiring Sen. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I hope that he puts the country first — I mean, the president — that he takes pride in his considerable accomplishments, that he congratulates the president-elect, and he helps him get off to a good start.”

After Monday’s voting, the next major step comes on Jan. 6, when Vice President Mike Pence is expected to preside over a joint session of Congress and have the electoral totals read aloud. A candidate will be declared the winner upon reaching the 270-vote threshold.

The Electoral College, created by the nation’s founders as a compromise between those who favoured a direct popular vote and those who wanted politicians to pick presidents, is undergoing some adjustments because of the coronavirus pandemic. Some states placed limits on the number of guests electors can bring, while others moved the meetings to larger spaces to better accommodate social distancing.

Electors are legally bound in some states to vote for the person who won their state, a requirement the Supreme Court said earlier this year is permissible. In others, so-called faithless electors can break ranks, though that is rare. In 2016, seven electors voted for someone other than their party’s nominee.

In each state, electors review the election results and sign certificates containing separate electoral-vote totals for the presidential and vice presidential candidates. They pair those certificates with paperwork from their governor and mail the material to a variety of state and federal officials.

Some well-known people are among this year’s electors. Hillary Clinton is among New York Democratic electors, as is her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia House minority leader who narrowly lost a 2018 bid for governor, is also an elector.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is a Republican elector, as is Ken Blackwell, a former Ohio secretary of state and treasurer. They are staunch Trump supporters.

The Wall St Journal