Electoral College: Biden affirmed president-elect as California electors push him over 270 votes

Electors cast definitive votes for president-elect

Trump vows to continue to fight election result after loss to Biden

Joe Biden has received more than 270  Electoral College votes, securing the president-elect’s victory as electors across the country cast their votes on behalf of the 50 states and the Washington DC to choose the next president.

In a speech to her state’s electors, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said: "After today, the results will be final. It's time to move forward together."

Donald Trump has meanwhile continued to rage against his election defeat on Twitter, arguing without evidence for his claims that: "Swing States that have found massive VOTER FRAUD, which is all of them, CANNOT LEGALLY CERTIFY these votes as complete & correct without committing a severely punishable crime." 

Mr Biden received 306 votes to Mr Trump’s 232 in accordance with last month’s election results, bringing the country closer to ending a nightmarish post-election period in which the president has doggedly contested his challenger’s victory through a series of frivolous lawsuits.

He has thus far comprehensively failed to substantiate his baseless claims of widespread voter fraud, with dozens of challenges filed by his campaign in crucial swing states that he won in 2016.

Following the votes, two more top Republican senators have acknowledged Mr Biden’s victory, including South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham and Missouri’s Roy Blunt.

The results now head to Washington to be tallied during a joint session of Congress. Vice president Mike Pence will preside.

Mr Biden is set to be sworn into office on 20 January.

Check out The Independent’s live coverage and analysis below.

► For the latest on the presidency, follow our dedicated Donald Trump liveblog

• What time does the Electoral College begin meeting?
• Biden aides hope vote is a turning point for divisive fight over election results
• Explainer: The Electoral College, an unlovable compromise
• Michigan lawmaker stripped of duties after refusing to rule out violence

Key Points

• California casts 55 electoral votes for Biden, securing 2020 victory
• Electoral College to confirm Biden as president-elect
• Michigan closes state Capitol over ‘credible threats of violence’
• Trump insists challenge ‘not over’ and attacks Supreme Court
• Coronavirus necessitates scaled-back vote
• Trump die-hards insist they still won’t recognise Biden

[14 December 2020 20:43 · Chris Riotta]

Three things Trump could do after Electoral College votes for Biden

Donald Trump is vowing to continue his fight to overturn the results of last month’s election even after an Electoral College vote declares Joe Biden his replacement – but his options are running out, John Bennett writes.

Electors are voting across the country on Monday but the president and his loyalists are vowing to send their own Electoral College votes to Congress, suggesting a shadow presidency is ahead once he departs the White House next month. His top spokeswoman, Kayleigh McEnany, declined on Monday to say whether her boss will accept the Electoral College result.

[14 December 2020 20:26 · Chris Riotta]

Trump continues falsely claiming ‘massive fraud’ as Electoral College votes

The president is continuing to promote outright falsities about the results of the 2020 elections: 

[14 December 2020 20:03 · Chris Riotta]

Trump files yet another lawsuit

The Electoral College is currently confirming President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 elections, as it appears President Donald Trump’s campaign is continuing to file federal lawsuits in a last-ditch effort to overturn the vote:

[14 December 2020 19:52 · Chris Riotta]

Meet the Republican who wants to nullify Monday’s Electoral College vote

Mo Brooks has been prowling around the US Capitol in recent weeks trying to drum up support for the scheme among conservative House members and senators, Griffin Connolly writes.

[14 December 2020 19:30 · Chris Riotta]

Kayleigh McEnany refuses to say whether Trump will accept Electoral College vote

John Bennett writes: Donald Trump’s top White House spokeswoman would not say whether the president will accept the votes of the Electoral College, which is expected later Monday to designate Joe Biden the president-elect.  

“Sorry, it’s raining,” press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters when asked if Mr Trump would accept the results or if he would speak publicly on Monday.

[14 December 2020 19:07 · Chris Riotta]

Some Texas Republicans want to secede from union over Trump loss

Party strategist said afterwards that ‘there is no chance’ the Lone Star State breaks away, amid GOP denial over election defeat

[14 December 2020 18:42 · Justin Vallejo]

Republicans mad about Biden’s win hold side vote

Republicans who refuse to acknowledge the reality of President-elect Joe Biden’s win are meeting to cast ceremonial votes for President Donald Trump.

On the day the Electoral College is set to formally confirm Biden’s victory, Trump loyalists in Pennsylvania met in Harrisburg and cast what they described as a “conditional vote” for Trump. The state Republican Party says the Trump electors met at the request of the campaign.

In Georgia, another battleground state Trump lost, an alternate Republican slate cast ceremonial votes for Trump at the same time Georgia’s 16 Electoral College votes were cast for Biden.

The opposition to Biden has no practical effect on the electoral process, with the Democrat set to be sworn in on Jan. 20.

The Electoral College vote is normally a fairly procedural step in the presidential election, but its importance is heightened this year because Trump is refusing to concede his loss. He and his allies have filed roughly 50 lawsuits and most have been dropped or dismissed by judges, including twice by the U.S. Supreme Court.  - AP

[14 December 2020 18:30 · Chris Riotta]

Hillary Clinton casts electoral college vote for Joe Biden

Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton – among New York members of the Electoral College – has cast her vote for Joe Biden, Alex Woodward writes.

The former US Senator was joined by former president Bill Clinton and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who are both among the state’s 29 electors to cast their ballots on 14 December, as the voting body across the US formally selects the winning presidential candidate.

[14 December 2020 18:27 · Justin Vallejo]

‘Abolish Electoral College’ says Hillary Clinton, who lost the Electoral College

But the popular vote, of course, went to Clinton in 2016, which she says should choose the presidency instead of the Electoral College.

While it’s the EC, however, she’ll be casting her vote for Joe Biden.

Abolishing the Constitutional Republic of the United States will have to wait a few more years.

[14 December 2020 18:10 · Chris Riotta]

Michigan lawmaker stripped of duties after refusing to rule out violence at electoral college vote

Republican legislative leaders in Michigan have stripped a lawmaker of his committee assignments on Monday after he hinted about his involvement in a group that intends to disrupt the Electoral College vote scheduled for the afternoon, Oliver O’Connell writes.

Representative Gary Eisen, who represents St Clair Township, made the remarks in the morning during an interview with Port Huron-area radio station WPHM.

When asked about the Electoral College, set to meet n the state Senate chamber to cast the state's 16 electoral votes for President-elect Joe Biden, Mr Eisen said that he and others were planning some sort of event and that he could not rule out the possibility of violence.