All 50 states and the District of Columbia have certified their presidential election results, confirming President-elect Joe Biden’s presidential win.
West Virginia was the last state to certify its results on Dec. 8, giving outgoing President Trump its five electoral votes. President-elect Biden is projected to win 306 votes while Trump is expected to win 232 votes. The deadline, known as Safe Harbor Day, is being looked at with more focus this year due to Trump’s unrelenting and unsuccessful attempts to change the election outcome.
Trump is still refusing to concede, filing more than 50 frivolous lawsuits, most of which have either been dismissed or thrown out.
The next major step for Biden in the electoral college process is the meeting of electors, who are required by law to meet Dec. 14 to vote. Their votes are then transmitted to officials and will be counted in a joint session of Congress on January 6. Twenty-nine states and Washington D.C. have laws binding their electors to the winning candidates, and could face penalties including being replaced, for voting outside of what state residents have voted for.
Wisconsin may be the only state to miss the deadline due to a suit being heard in the state. The Associated Press reported the suit has little chance of succeeding, but Judge Stephen Simanek, appointed to hear the case, acknowledged the safe harbor deadline.
Missing the deadline however, will do little to change the results. Wisconsin electors are still scheduled to meet Monday and vote and there’s no reason to believe Congress won’t accept the results. Even without Wisconsin, Biden still easily wins the election. Also, Wisconsin is on the list of states required to select the winning candidate.
Republican lawmakers won’t be able to change anything on Monday, but they could muddy the process by challenging the votes. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala) has already announced he will challenge electoral votes for January 6th. However, even if Brooks did so, both the House and Senate would have to agree to the objections.
