Daily US Times: Presidential electors around the US have begun casting the votes that will formally choose Joe Biden, a Democrat, as the nation’s next president.
Vermont’s electors were the first in the country to vote Monday, giving the state’s three electoral votes to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
Monday is the day set by law for the meeting of the Electoral College. In reality, electors meet in the District of Columbia and all 50 states to cast their ballots. The results will be sent to Washington and tallied in a January 6 joint session of Congress over which Vice President Mike Pence will preside.
This year, the electors’ votes have drawn more attention than usual because President Trump, a Republican, has refused to concede the election and continues to make unsubstantial allegations of fraud.
There have been concerns about the safety of the electors, virtually unheard of in previous years. For example, in Michigan lawmakers from both parties have reported receiving threats.
Legislative offices there were closed on Monday over threats of violence. The 16 electors were to meet in the Senate chamber in a ceremony headed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Joe Biden won the state by 154,000 votes, or 2.8 percentage points, over Donald Trump.
Joe Biden is to address the nation Monday night, after the electors have voted. President Trump, meanwhile, is clinging to his false claims that he won the November 3 election, and trying to undermine Biden’s presidency before it begins.
In a Fox News interview that was taped Saturday, Trump said: “No, I worry about the country having an illegitimate president, that’s what I worry about. A president that lost and lost badly.”
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