Live Updates
Our live coverage has ended. Read more about the Electoral College vote here.
In a speech after the Electoral College affirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over President Trump, he echoed the rights of all Americans “to have your vote counted.”
“In America, politicians don’t take power,” Biden said. “People grant power to them. The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. And we now know nothing, not even a pandemic or an abuse of power, can extinguish that flame.”
Biden went on to praise election officials who worked amid a global pandemic to ensure “the integrity of our elections remained intact.”
“One of the extraordinary things we saw this year was that everyday Americans, our friends and our neighbors, often volunteers, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, demonstrating absolute courage, they showed a deep and unwavering faith in and a commitment to the law,” Biden said. “They did their duty in the face of the pandemic. And then they could not and would not give credence to what they knew is not true.”
President-elect Joe Biden on Monday weighed in on the Texas lawsuit that was rejected by the Supreme Court that attempted to block the ballots of millions of voters in battleground states that went in favor of Biden.
“This legal maneuver was an effort by elected officials and one group of states to try to get the Supreme Court to wipe out the votes of more than 20 million Americans in other states, and to hand the presidency to a candidate who lost the Electoral College, lost the popular vote, and lost each and every one of the states whose votes they were trying to reverse,” Biden said. The President-elect spoke just after the Electoral College voted to affirm his win in the presidential election.
The lawsuit, brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is a staunch Trump ally, sought to sue Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia and Wisconsin — all states that went for Biden — and invalidate their election 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,” Biden said.
The President-elect continued, “Thankfully, a unanimous Supreme Court immediately and completely rejected this effort. The court sent a clear signal to President Trump that they would be no part of an unprecedented assault on our democracy.”
More than a dozen Republican attorneys general sided with Texas, and 126 House Republicans signed on to an amicus brief in support of Paxton’s motion, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
See the moment:
President-elect Joe Biden praised the efforts by local and state official and volunteers who “did their duty in the face of a pandemic” by upholding the election results.
“American democracy works because America makes it work at a local level. One of the extraordinary things we saw this year that was that everyday Americans, our friends and our neighbors, often volunteers, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, demonstrated absolute courage. They showed a deep and unwavering faith in and a commitment to the law,” Biden said.
He noted how officials did not “give credence to what they knew was not true.”
“They knew this election was overseen, was overseen by them. It was honest. It was free and it was fair,” Biden said.
Biden highlighted how many officials faced political pressure, verbal abuse and threats of physical violence.
“It is my sincere hope we never again see anyone subjected to the kind of abuse and threats we saw in this election. It’s simply unconscionable. We all these public servants a debt of gratitude. They didn’t seek the spotlight,” Biden said. “Our democracy survived because of them which is proof once more that it’s every day Americans infused with honor, character and decency that is the heart of this nation.”
Watch Biden’s speech:
President-elect Joe Biden, speaking after the Electoral College affirmed his election win, said the “will of the people prevailed” today.
“Once again, in America, the rule of law, our Constitution, and the will of the people prevailed,” Biden said. “Our democracy pushed, tested, threatened, proved to be resilient, true and strong.”
Biden noted that he and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris received more votes “than any ticket has received in the history of America.”
Watch the moment:
President-elect Joe Biden is delivering remarks to the nation tonight from Wilmington, Delaware, after the Electoral College affirmed his win over President Trump.
Biden is expected to declare it time to “turn the page, to unite, to heal” in his speech tonight, according to excerpts of Biden’s prepared remarks released by his transition team.
Hawaii’s electors cast their four votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Honolulu.
Hawaii was the last state to cast its electoral votes, concluding the arcane process that is laid out in the Constitution. The final Electoral College results are 306 for Biden and 232 for Trump.
There were no “faithless electors” this year, which is when presidential electors vote for someone else other than their state’s popular vote winner. This is a major departure from 2016, which set a record for “faithless electors.” Five Democrats and two Republicans broke ranks and went “faithless” that year.
Biden defeated Trump in Hawaii, about 64% to 34%.
Hawaii is a Democratic stronghold in presidential races. It has voted for a GOP presidential candidate only twice since gaining statehood in 1959 – Richard Nixon in 1972 and Ronald Reagan in 1984.
About the process: The meeting of electors marked the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
President-elect Joe Biden will declare it time to “turn the page, to unite, to heal” in a speech tonight after the Electoral College made his victory over President Trump official, according to excerpts of Biden’s prepared remarks released by his transition team.
“In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed,” Biden will say, according to the excerpts. “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.”
Biden is set to speak at 7:30 p.m. ET Monday from his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.
The President-elect intends to lay out the work that will dominate the early days of his administration: the battle against the coronavirus pandemic, including distributing vaccines and slowing its spread as those vaccines become available, and rebuilding an economy battered by the pandemic.
You can read more about his remarks here.
President Trump is not moving in the direction of publicly accepting the election results, despite the Electoral College’s historic meeting to put President-elect Joe Biden over the top, said a source close to the White House, who speaks regularly with the President.
Some White House advisers have noted that Trump has privately acknowledged that he won’t be staying at the White House for a second term, even as he attempts to overturn the election results in court and siphons money from his base off bogus claims of voter fraud.
A separate White House adviser mocked the suggestion made by some Republican officials, including White House domestic policy aide Stephen Miller, that the GOP send “alternate” slates of electors to Congress to be tallied on Jan. 6.
The adviser said people close to Trump continue to see it as highly unlikely that the outgoing President will attend Biden’s inauguration. “He won’t,” the adviser said of the current thinking inside Trump’s circle of allies.
After California clinched the Electoral College victory for President-elect Joe Biden, President Trump tweeted that his Attorney General William Barr will be “leaving” the White House “just before Christmas.”
“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…,” the President tweeted.
Trump said Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen would become acting attorney general.
A White House official said Barr was not forced out or fired. “He wasn’t asked to resign,” the official said, insisting there were no fireworks during their meeting this afternoon. “It was a very amicable meeting,” the official said.
The official noted there were frustrations with Barr that may have risen to the level of discussing firing Barr. But the official said this was a very different situation — not like when other secretaries have been fired, the official insisted.
Trump had discussed firing Barr as recently as yesterday, a separate source said, despite how laudatory Barr’s resignation letter is.
Here’s a look at Barr’s letter:
Senate Majority Whip John Thune said that Joe Biden is President-elect once he crosses 270 electoral votes and says efforts to challenge the results in Congress are “not going anywhere.” He said “it’s time for everybody to move on” after today.
Moments ago, Biden won electoral votes to officially clinch the presidency after California’s electors awarded him the state’s 55 electoral votes.
“Now that the electoral college has acted, are you prepared to call Biden President-elect?” CNN asked Thune today.
Here’s how the rest of the exchange went:
Q: You have no doubts?
Thune: “As soon as he crosses the 270 vote threshold, I mean there are still a couple of, I guess, last steps in the process, but in my view that’s how in this country we decide presidential elections, that’s our Constitution, and I believe in following the Constitution.”
Q: Challenge electoral votes?
Thune: “It’s their prerogative, it’s allowed for in the Constitution, but it’s not going anywhere. It’s an opportunity for people to vent and protest, but in the end we have a clear way of determining a president, those steps have been adhered to, they’ve been followed, either the House can choose to do that, (inaudible).”
Monday’s Electoral College vote is not the final step in the constitutional process of selecting a president. The votes cast on Monday are sent to Congress, where they will be counted on Jan. 6 in a joint session led by Vice President Mike Pence.
Many congressional Republicans who have refused thus far to say that Biden won the election have claimed they are waiting for Monday’s Electoral College vote to certify the results. But some of Trump’s staunchest House Republican allies are preparing for a floor fight when the votes are counted in Congress next month.
Lawmakers can dispute a state’s election result when the votes are counted next month. But a challenge can only be considered if both a House member and a senator sign onto it. So far only House Republicans have said they will contest the results, although some GOP senators have suggested they are considering joining.
Even if a senator signs on to challenge the results, it’s only delaying the inevitable. In that case, the House and Senate separately debate the matter for two hours and vote on it. Democrats control the House, and enough GOP senators have already said they reject Trump’s claims of fraud that a challenge would not succeed there either.
After the state electors cast their ballots on Monday, those results will be certified and sent to Congress, the National Archives and to the courts.
On Jan. 20, a new president takes the oath of office at noon.
Read more about the next steps here.
President-elect Joe Biden has received enough electoral votes to officially clinch the presidency, a major milestone that he reached when California’s electors awarded him the state’s 55 electoral votes at their meeting Monday in Sacramento.
CNN projected five weeks ago that Biden would win the White House, but his victory was formalized Monday after presidential electors gathered in statehouses across the country as part of the Constitutional process to officially elect a President.
This development is a crushing blow to President Trump’s controversial and unprecedented attempts to block Biden’s victory in the Electoral College by filing longshot lawsuits and pressuring lawmakers in battleground states to overturn millions of legal votes.
In California, Biden won more than 63% of the statewide vote, while Trump earned about 34%.
Democrats have won California’s electoral votes every cycle since 1992. The state voted for Republicans in the six presidential elections before that.
About the process: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today. It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment:
Oregon’s electors cast seven electoral votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Salem.
Biden won Oregon, a reliably blue state, by about 16 points in 2020.
The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
California’s electors vote around 5 p.m. ET, and are expected to put President-elect Joe Biden over the 270 total needed to win the White House.
Earlier today, the battleground states of Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin all sealed election victories for Biden as electors for all 50 states and the District of Columbia met in each state.
Hawaii will be the last state to cast its votes at 7 p.m. ET.
Precious McKesson was the sole elector in Nebraska to cast the vote for President-elect Joe Biden today.
Nebraska is one of only two states that splits its electoral college votes. The Electoral College cast four votes for Trump and one for Biden.
“It was so monumental to be in a room with so many of my close friends and families and supporters. And when I walked in they started cheering me. It was an honor to do it today,” McKesson told CNN’s Dana Bash.
McKesson, who is the first woman of color to cast an electoral vote for a Democrat in the state, also explained why she became emotional when she cast a vote for the first woman and first Black vice president. “It meant so much,” she said.
“It meant so much for many women who every day fight this good fight to make sure that our democracy is not taken for granted. And so to be able to cast that vote for Kamala Harris today, it meant the world to me. And I’m just so happy that I was able to do that, especially here in Nebraska. And we’re just excited to see what the future holds and we can’t wait until January 20th when they’re worn in,” she said.
McKesson also discussed how she was elected as the elector to cast the Democratic vote.
“Prior to me going to work for the Biden/Harris campaign, I do sit as the Black Caucus chair as well as the state Legislative District Holder. Before I’m able to work for them, we had the state convention and you have to go in front of your congressional district and you have to actually ask for them to nominate you and to vote for you. And so, I went in front of my peers and told them I felt that this would be the time for number one, a woman of color and a woman to cast that vote and they voted for me to be able to be the one to represent Congressional District 2.”
Watch the full interview with McKesson:
CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf is answering questions from readers about the Electoral College. You can ask your question here.
Here’s a question from Cathy in Hawaii:
I am seeing conflicting information about what happens if conditions are met that require the two chambers of Congress to meet separately to consider a challenge by a congressional member to the results of the Electoral College’s reported results. One reports that each chamber would then meet separately from the other to consider, then vote, with each senator and each representative having one vote, whether to support the challenge or not. In this scenario, Joe Biden would likely prevail. The other reports that each chamber would do the same EXCEPT in the House each state will have only one vote, not each representative – which would mean Trump would likely prevail. Which is correct? And would you provide a link to the description of this process of the laws covering such a possibility in our Constitution?
Thank you for this very detailed and incredibly important technical question. Let me start at the end, where you ask for specific links to US law. Here’s a link to Title 3, section 15 of US Code, “Counting Electoral Votes in Congress,” which is about as impenetrable of legalese as you’re likely to see.
To your point, let me clarify the smart issue you’re raising:
It is expected that House Republicans will object to the electoral vote count after it takes place Jan. 6. After the votes are counted by Vice President Mike Pence – in his capacity as president of the Senate – and he announces the winner, lawmakers have the ability to raise objections. If a senator joins in one or more of these objections, then the House and Senate go to their respective chambers and consider the objections. If both chambers sustain the objections, a state’s electors could be discarded.
Ultimately, if electoral votes cast today are rejected this way, and as a result Biden doesn’t get 270 electoral votes, then the House picks the next president. And, as you note, House members would vote as state delegations in this process to pick the President — 50 total votes.
But the question is about the objections by which Republicans would seek votes to discard electoral votes. In these votes would they vote as state delegations or as members of Congress. If they vote as states, that benefits Republicans, who control more state delegations. If they vote as individuals, with 435 total votes, that benefits Democrats, since they hold a majority in the House.
The answer is that they would vote as individual members and Democrats should be able to defeat any objection.
Here’s why: While law linked above does not say specifically how congresspeople would vote, these objections about electoral votes have been raised twice before and in both instances, the House voted as a 435-member body, according to footnotes in this Congressional Research Service report.
In 1969, an objection was raised about a faithless elector who voted for George Wallace. The House and Senate both considered it and the House voted as a 435-member body. In 2004, California Sen. Barbara Boxer and Ohio Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones – both Democrats — objected to the electoral votes from the decisive state of Ohio. Again, the House voted as 435-member body.
It’s not at all clear how many Republicans in either the House or the Senate would vote to ignore voters and prop up a second Trump administration.
Montana’s electors cast their three votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Helena.
Trump won Montana by more than 16 percentage points.
Republican candidates have carried Montana in every presidential election since 1996.
Remember: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment:
One Washington state elector who said he is very ill spoke passionately and emotionally about serving as a faithful elector and casting his electoral votes for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris, in accordance with the will of the state’s voters.
Jack Arends, one of Washington’s 12 electors, said on Monday while he thinks the Electoral College is “not great,” it is part of the US election system, so he was determined to do his role and cast his ballots for Biden and Harris.
In Washington, each presidential candidate’s chosen electors sign a pledge to vote for the nominee of the party that they represent, according to state law.
In 2016, three of Washington’s presidential electors voted for Colin Powell rather than Hillary Clinton and one voted for anti-Keystone XL pipeline protester Faith Spotted Eagle. A $1,000 fine was upheld by the state Supreme Court.
Arends said he believed it was his “duty” to cast his vote affirming Biden’s win in the state to “begin the end of the Trump administration” and “rid our nation of a petty dictator.”
Arends told the body he is in failing health, so it will be up to others to rebuild the nation under a Biden administration.
“In November, I was told there is no more medical treatment that can help me, so it was important for me to do this one thing that I could do while I still can,” he said.
Several more of Washington state’s 12 electors were critical of the Electoral College in their post-vote speeches, with some speaking in support of reforming or even abolishing the system.
In an exclusive interview, Rep. Paul Mitchell, Republican of Michigan, told CNN that his disgust and disappointment with President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the election have led him to request that the Clerk of the House change his party affiliation to “independent,” and to notify GOP leaders in a letter that he is withdrawing his “engagement and association with the Republican Party at both the national and state level.”
“I supported the administration policies 95, 96% of the time the last two terms. I’ve been actual in the national state party. But this party has to stand up for democracy first, for our constitutional first and not political considerations. It’s not about a candidate. It’s not simply for raw political power and that is what I feel is going on and I’ve had enough,” Mitchell told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Mitchell, who is retiring at the end of this session of Congress, says he fears that the House GOP leadership’s participation in the outgoing President’s conspiracy theories and attempts to disenfranchise millions of American voters to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory could cause “long-term harm to our democracy.”
“This election simply confirms to me that it’s all about power first, and that frankly is disgusting and demoralizing,” Mitchell said.
Asked about how he plans to respond to critics, Mitchell said he would stand “on my principles.”
“Yes, I will take abuse from both the far left and the far right. In my opinion, the extremes of both parties are dragging their parties and this country off a cliff. The majority of Americans are in the middle,” the congressman said. “The majority of Americans want solutions to problems, want us to address them and not see who can have a political win.”
Mitchell added that he believed that the Texas lawsuit was “ridiculous” and he didn’t “believe the brief was appropriate or valid.”
“It’s just blatantly an effort to say ‘we will do anything we can to overturn the election that we lost.’ I say in my letter, I’ve told you, Jake, anybody who gets into politics has to be willing to accept winning and losing with some level of grace and maturity. I’ve done both. Losing is brutal. It’s personal. It hurts. If you’re not willing to accept that, you should not be in political leadership. You should not be,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell was asked about the Michigan Republican House member who was stripped of his committee assignments today after saying there could be violent protests in the state capitol because of the electoral college vote.
“When you can’t conduct an election without threats of violence, we become a third world nation. What are we, Venezuela? It’s ridiculous,” Mitchell told CNN.
Read Mitchell’s full letter here.
Watch Rep. Mitchell’s interview:
President Trump is already looking past today’s electoral college vote as he sees one final avenue to block Joe Biden from becoming the next president — the official tallying of votes in the House of Representatives on Jan. 6, a White House adviser said.
The adviser described the option as yet another “long shot,” much like the Trump team legal challenges that went nowhere.
The reality is the prospect of upending the election results in the House is more than just a “long shot” as Democrats will refuse to go along with any GOP members seeking to overturn Biden’s victory.
House members can challenge the results on Jan. 6, when Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to preside over the official tallying of the electoral votes. But those members would need a Republican senator to sign on to the effort.
Even if the GOP effort makes it that far, the Democratic controlled House would vote down such a maneuver.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany declined to answer whether Trump would accept today’s electoral college results. She told reporters that she could not stop to take questions as it was raining at the time. She was holding an umbrella.
Massachusetts’ electors cast their 11 votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Boston.
Biden won about 66% of the vote in the Bay State to President Trump’s 32%.
While five of Massachusetts’s last six governors have been Republicans, including current Gov. Charlie Baker, the commonwealth hasn’t voted for a Republican for president since 1984.
Presidential elector Linda Monteiro of Boston addressed the gathering on Monday afternoon, marking the importance of this moment as a lifelong Democrat and a daughter of immigrants. She called the Trump administration “ego-centric, divisive and mean-spirited” and stated that she believes the Biden administration will unite the country.
About the process: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today. It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment:
Missouri’s electors cast their 10 votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Jefferson City.
Trump carried Missouri by more than 15 percentage points, nearly 57% to about 41%.
With Trump’s victory in the Show Me State, Republican presidential candidates have won here for the past six elections.
The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
Texas’ electors cast their 38 votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Austin.
Trump won 52% of the vote in Texas, compared to Biden’s roughly 47%, which was the best showing by a Democrat in decades. Biden made a play for the conservative-leaning state but fell short, with Trump gaining ground among Hispanic voters, who made up almost a quarter of the electorate.
Texas has supported the Republican candidate in the last 11 presidential elections, despite recent Democratic efforts to flip the state.
The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment:
President-elect Joe Biden is expected to speak tonight about the integrity of US elections in remarks delivered after the Electoral College certifies his win in the presidential election on Monday evening.
“We the people voted. Faith in our institutions held. The integrity of our elections remains intact,” Biden’s prepared remarks read, according to a copy provided by the Biden transition team.
“The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. And we now know that nothing — not even a pandemic —or an abuse of power — can extinguish that flame,” the President-elect’s remarks read.
The 538 electors who make up the Electoral College are gathering on Monday in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to formally cast their votes for president. The procedural step comes as President Donald Trump refuses to concede the election and continues to make baseless claims about election rigging and widespread voter fraud.
Biden won 306 electoral votes, while Trump won 232. Two hundred and seventy electoral votes are needed to become president.
Biden, whose popular vote margin over Trump has surpassed 7 million votes, is expected to reaffirm his pledge to be a president for all Americans, regardless of which candidate they voted for.
The President-elect is expected to talk about uniting and healing the country, saying, “Now it is time to turn the page.”
“If anyone didn’t know it before, we know it now. What beats deep in the hearts of the American people is this: Democracy,” Biden’s remarks read. “The right to be heard. To have your vote counted. To choose the leaders of this nation. To govern ourselves.”
“In America, politicians don’t take power — the people grant it to them,” the remarks read.
Biden is also expected to speak about the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 300,000 Americans as of Monday afternoon, and getting Americans vaccinated. His remarks will come the same day the first doses of a Covid-19 vaccine were given to the American public.
The President-elect is also expected to speak about delivering economic relief to Americans who are struggling, and building back an economy battered by the pandemic.
We still have to count some votes, but it’s worth noting that there hasn’t been a faithless elector yet. That’s not terribly important for the ultimate outcome, unless there was a historic number of them.
It is, however, important for Biden’s place in history relative to Trump’s 2016 performance. Although Trump won contests totaling 306 electoral votes in 2016, he actually only got the votes of 304 electors. Two of his electors were faithless.
This year, Biden, of course, won contests totaling 306 electoral votes. But if he has one or no faithless electors, he will beat Trump’s 2016 performance for the record books.
One could also imagine that it would be an ego bruise for Trump, who liked to tout his 2016 electoral performance.
Biden’s 306 electors would be the most for anyone not named Barack Obama in the 2000s.
Electors from the key states that Joe Biden flipped in November cast their ballots for president Monday in the formal Electoral College process that will affirm Biden’s election as the 46th president of the United States.
The battleground states of Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin all sealed election victories for Biden on Monday as electors for all 50 states and the District of Columbia met in each state.
California’s votes around 5 p.m. ET is expected to put Biden over the 270 total needed to win the White House.
Vermont’s three electors were the first to cast their votes for Biden just after 10 a.m. ET, with Tennessee following shortly after with 11 votes for President Donald Trump. Three key states that Trump won — North Carolina, Ohio and Florida — cast their ballots for the President.
Trump has continued to spread false claims of widespread fraud despite courts in all of the battleground states rejecting his campaign’s challenges to the election.
The Supreme Court dealt the final blow against his efforts to overturn the election result late Friday, dismissing a case brought by the Texas attorney general that sought to disenfranchise millions of voters in four states.
Wisconsin’s Supreme Court denied yet another challenge from Trump’s campaign on Monday, just before the state’s electors were scheduled to meet and cast their votes for Biden.
Today’s process is a constitutionally-mandated ritual that’s typical no more than a curious afterthought following a presidential election, but the Electoral College vote has taken on newfound significance this year as Trump and his GOP allies make unprecedented efforts to subvert the popular will of the voters and overturn Biden’s November victory.
CNN’s John King breaks it down:
New Jersey’s electors cast their 14 votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Trenton.
Biden carried the Garden State by about 16 percentage points, 57% to 41%.
With Biden’s win, New Jersey has now voted Democratic in eight straight presidential elections.
More about this process: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
Washington state’s electors cast their 12 votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Olympia.
Biden won the state with 58% of the vote, almost 20 percentage points more than President Trump.
Every Democratic presidential nominee since 1988 has won the Evergreen State.
Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman, a Republican who presided over the body, got emotional when she told electors ahead of the vote, “this is a moment in our country’s history where electors in state capitals across America are convening to cast their votes on behalf of the voters of their respective states.”
More on today’s process: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Nebraska’s electors cast four votes for President Trump and one vote for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Lincoln.
Trump earned about 58% of the state vote in Nebraska, compared to Biden’s 39%.
Nebraska is one of two states that apportions some of its electoral votes based on congressional district. While Trump won the statewide popular vote, Biden won an Omaha-based congressional district by almost seven points. This is the second time Nebraska has ever split its electoral votes — the first time was in 2008 when Barack Obama also won the Omaha district.
Remember: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is Dec.14.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment:
Alaska’s electors cast their 3 votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Juneau.
Trump defeated Biden by ten percentage points in the state, about 53% to 43%.
Alaska is a safe Republican state in presidential politics. The Last Frontier has voted only once for the Democratic nominee since gaining statehood – Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Biden’s 43% showing was the best performance for a Democrat since Johnson’s win 56 years ago.
Remember: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment:
Maine’s electors cast three votes for President-elect Joe Biden and one vote for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Augusta.
Maine is one of two states that apportions some of its electoral votes based on congressional district. Biden received three of the state’s four electoral votes, having carried the statewide popular vote and the 1st Congressional District.
Trump won the 2nd Congressional District, earning one electoral vote.
There were no disruptions or faithless electors. This was a departure from 2016, when one Democratic elector attempted to vote for Bernie Sanders, but was ultimately required to cast their vote for Hillary Clinton as planned. (In 2016, like this year, Trump won the electoral vote from the 2nd Congressional district.)
More on today’s process: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment:
Wyoming’s electors cast their three votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Cheyenne.
Trump carried the state with about 70% of the vote compared to Biden’s less than 27% – a massive margin of more than 43 percentage points.
A GOP stronghold, Wyoming has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.
What’s happening today: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
Watch the moment:
North Dakota’s electors cast their three votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Bismarck.
Trump won 65% of the vote in North Dakota compared to Biden’s nearly 32%.
North Dakota has now voted for the Republican presidential nominee in 14 consecutive elections.
The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment:
Michigan’s electors cast their 16 votes for Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Lansing.
Biden rebuilt the “blue wall” with his Wolverine State victory this cycle, earning about 51% of the vote compared to President Trump’s 48%. This was a return to form for Michigan — Trump’s win there in 2016 made him the first Republican to win there since 1988.
The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is Dec. 14. It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
One of Michigan’s 16 electors was not in attendance for the vote, so electors voted on a replacement to fill the vacancy prior to casting their vote for president and vice president. Electors unanimously chose Sharon Baseman to replace Walter Herzig III.
Some background: In the lead up to the vote, Rudy Giuliani and other Republican leaders tried to suggest that Michigan lawmakers could break from the popular vote and certified results, and instead appoint their own electors for Trump. Michigan law clearly states, however, that electors must vote for the candidate who receives the most votes. If an elector fails to vote for the political party that it was nominated by, that elector must resign and their vote does not count, the law states.
In the weeks before the Electoral College vote, Trump and his campaign tried to overturn Biden’s victory in the pivotal state, filling lawsuits and unsuccessfully pressing GOP election officials to block the results from being certified.
Gov. Whitmer spoke earlier:
Electors across the country continue to formally cast their ballots for president and vice president.
In most states, the meeting place has been in the state capitol building or the governor’s office. The first round of states kicked off voting at 10 a.m. ET and voting will continue until 7 p.m. ET today, when Hawaii casts its votes.
Electors vote at 3 p.m. ET in:
Here’s a step-by-step guide to today’s Electoral College vote.
CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf is answering questions from readers about the Electoral College. You can ask your question here.
Here’s a question from David in Winchester, Massachusetts:
Is the president of the Senate (Vice President Mike Pence) required to count the electoral votes correctly? What if electoral votes are “lost” in the mail and do not arrive by December 23?
Pence will call on the individual states and they announce their votes. He wouldn’t be able to keep a separate tally because we’ll all be watching. It’ll be broadcast live.
Also, the electors will sign six copes of the Certificates of Vote. One goes to Congress to be counted on January 6, but others go to the National Archives, state officials and to the courts. So, anyone trying to falsify anything would be called on it immediately.
Idaho’s electors cast their four votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Boise.
Trump earned almost 64% of the vote, defeating Biden by more than 30 percentage points in the reliably Republican state.
It’s been more than five decades since a Democratic presidential nominee carried Idaho after Lyndon Johnson won the state in 1964.
The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment:
Washington, DC, electors cast their three votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday.
Biden won about 92% of the vote in DC to Trump’s 5% – the largest margin of victory that either candidate got this year.
The District of Columbia has never supported a Republican presidential nominee since it first cast votes for president in 1964.
The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment:
Colorado’s electors cast their nine votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Denver.
The former vice president won the state with about 55% of the vote.
Colorado has voted for every Democratic presidential nominee since 2008. The general election was conducted almost entirely by mail, a system Colorado has used for years.
More on today’s vote: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment:
West Virginia’s electors cast their five votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Charleston.
Trump won the state with about 69% of the vote, compared to Biden’s 30%.
With Trump’s victory, West Virginia has voted for Republican candidates in every presidential election for the past six cycles.
The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment:
CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf is answering questions from readers about the Electoral College. You can ask your question here.
Here’s a question from Shreya in New Jersey:
Who are members of the Electoral College and how are they selected?
States have slightly different processes to select the electors, but it is usually either the state party or campaigns that select a slate of electors during the spring and summer — before Election Day.
After a candidate wins the popular vote in a state, their slate of electors is appointed.
Electors can’t be members of Congress or current holders of federal office. Sometimes they are party elders — former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were electors from New York. Other times, they are simply party activists.
Minnesota’s electors cast their 10 votes for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris during their meeting on Monday in St. Paul.
Biden won Minnesota by about 7 percentage points, 52% to 45%.
The last Republican to carry Minnesota in a presidential election was Richard Nixon in 1972. This is the longest Democratic streak of any state in the nation (Washington, DC, not included).
Trump campaigned in Minnesota this year, but he lost to Biden by an even larger margin than he lost in 2016 to then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
More on today’s event: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results.
Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today. It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment:
Florida’s electors cast their 29 votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Tallahassee.
Trump won Florida’s statewide popular vote with about 51% of the vote to Biden’s 48%.
This is only the second time in the last 15 presidential elections that Florida hasn’t supported the winning candidate. The last time it happened was also the last time a sitting president was defeated for reelection: George H.W. Bush in 1992.
The President of the Florida State Senate, Wilton Simpson, did not participate as an elector on Monday after testing positive for Covid-19 on Sunday. State Sen. Jeff Brandes was selected as a replacement. Both officials are Republicans.
About the process: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment:
New Mexico’s electors cast their five votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Santa Fe.
Biden won New Mexico 54% to about 44%.
New Mexico again voted for the winner of the national popular vote. The state has failed to do so only once since becoming a state in 1912.
About this process: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
Watch the moment:
Utah’s electors cast their six votes for Donald Trump during their meeting on Monday in Salt Lake City.
Trump won Utah with 58% of the vote compared to Biden’s almost 38% – a margin of more than 20 percentage points.
Utah is generally one of the most Republican states in the nation. The Beehive State has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.
The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results.
Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today. It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment:
Louisiana’s electors cast their eight votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Baton Rouge.
Trump defeated Biden by roughly 19 percentage points, about 59% to 40%.
Republicans have won Louisiana in the last six presidential elections.
The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which is today.
Watch the moment:
Alabama’s electors cast their nine votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Montgomery.
Trump won Alabama by more than 25 percentage points, or about 62% to 36% for President-elect Joe Biden.
Alabama has supported the Republican candidate in 11 straight presidential elections. Jimmy Carter was the last Democrat to carry the state in 1976.
While announcing the popular vote results for both candidates, Secretary of State John Merrill, a Republican, used the phrase “president-elect” to refer to Biden. This is notable, because most GOP elected officials in Congress have not used that title, even though Biden was projected to win the White House five weeks ago.
Remember: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is Dec. 14.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment:
Arizona held its Electoral College meeting at an undisclosed location for the safety of its electors, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs told CNN.
This comes as election officials across the country have reported that they’re receiving death threats as President Trump continues to contest the election results and refuses to concede.
Hobbs said she and her team worked with law enforcement to keep the electors and the Electoral College meeting safe.
“I’ve been saying since the election that the rhetoric, the unfounded accusations, the undermining of the integrity of the election are and continue to be dangerous to our democracy,” she said Monday. “Unless we have leaders that are focused on … unifying and rebuilding, I think there’s permanent damage that’s been done to our election systems and our country.”
Watch the interview here:
The electors are gathering in their states today and casting votes, individually and on paper ballots, for president and vice president.
In most states, the meeting place has been in the state capitol building or the governor’s office. The voting kicked off at 10 a.m. ET in some states and will continue until 7 p.m. ET today, when Hawaii casts its votes.
Electors vote at 2 p.m. ET in:
Here’s a step-by-step guide to today’s Electoral College vote.
CNN’s John King breaks it down:
Maryland’s electors cast their 10 votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Annapolis.
Biden won more than 65% of the vote in Maryland, while Trump won about 32%.
Democrats have won Maryland in the last eight presidential elections.
More on the process: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results.
Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is Dec. 14.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
WATCH:
South Dakota’s electors cast their three votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Pierre.
Trump won South Dakota by 26 percentage points – nearly 62% to about 36%.
South Dakota continued its historical trend of backing Republican presidential candidates. The Mount Rushmore State has voted Democratic only four times since gaining statehood in 1889.
Kansas’ electors cast their six votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Topeka.
Trump beat Biden in Kansas, 56% to about 42%.
Republicans have carried Kansas in 20 of the last 21 presidential elections, dating back to 1940. The lone exception was Lyndon Johnson in 1964.
More about today’s event: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results.
Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is Dec.14.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
See it here:
Arizona’s electors cast their 11 votes for Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Phoenix.
The former vice president won the Grand Canyon State by less than half of a percentage point, making him the second Democratic presidential nominee to win there since 1952, along with Bill Clinton in 1996. This year’s contest saw the closest raw-vote margin in the entire country — Biden beat Trump by about 10,000 votes out of about 3.4 million cast.
About the process: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results.
Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
One of the big questions on election night was whether President-elect Joe Biden would be able to win any states that President Trump won in 2016. To win, Biden needed to take at least three Trump states in most scenarios that got Biden 270 or more electoral votes.
Well, Biden’s officially gotten those Trump states he needs to cross 270 electoral votes. Arizona (11 electoral votes), Georgia (16 electoral votes) and Pennsylvania (20 electoral votes) have all gone for Biden as expected.
These three states were decided by about a point or less this go around. Trump contested all of them after Election Day.
The fact that these states are hanging with Biden illustrates the point my colleagues and I have been making all day. Today is important, but still mostly a formality.
There are no signs that Trump has any sort of magical ace up his pocket to keep Biden from winning the clear majority of electoral votes.
Wisconsin’s electors cast their 10 votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Madison.
Biden beat Trump with a margin of about 0.6% points, making Wisconsin again one of the closest states in the country. Because of the close margin, Trump requested a partial recount in two Democratic-leaning counties, but Biden’s victory was reaffirmed by election officials. Trump also backed unsuccessful lawsuits in an attempt to block certification.
In the hours before the electors cast their votes, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision against yet another lawsuit from Trump seeking to overturn the state’s election results the two counties that conducted recounts. This is at least the third time in December alone that the court has ruled against Trump and his allies.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, chaired the meeting of electors.
Democrats have now won the Badger State in eight of the last nine presidential elections – the only exception being Trump’s 2016 victory, which he won by about 0.7% points.
Remember: Today’s meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today. It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the vote:
Kentucky’s electors cast their eight votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Frankfort.
Trump won Kentucky with a 26-percentage point margin, 62% to 36%.
Kentucky has voted for the Republican presidential candidate for the past six elections.
Remember: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December.
Watch:
Ohio’s electors cast their 18 votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Columbus.
Trump won Ohio by about 8 percentage points – 53% to 45%.
The Buckeye State typically plays a crucial role in presidential politics – no Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio. Prior to Joe Biden this cycle, the last Democrat to win the White House without winning Ohio was John F. Kennedy in 1960.
About the process: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results.
Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment:
North Carolina’s electors cast their 15 votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Raleigh.
Trump won North Carolina by roughly 1.3 percentage points, his narrowest margin of victory in any state this year.
While Barack Obama won North Carolina in 2008, the state has voted Republican in every other presidential election since 1980.
What’s happening today: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
See it here:
Rhode Island’s electors cast their four votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Providence.
The former vice president won Rhode Island by more than 20 percentage points, 59% to roughly 39%.
With Biden’s victory, Democratic presidential nominees have carried the state in 14 of the last 16 presidential elections.
Remember: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
Watch the vote:
Virginia’s electors cast their 13 votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Richmond.
Biden won Virginia by ten percentage points – 54% to 44%.
Democrats have now won Virginia’s electoral votes in four straight elections, a dramatic change in the Old Dominion State, which previously hadn’t gone blue since 1964.
More on today’s process: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results.
Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is Dec. 14.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment:
Michigan’s Republican Speaker of the House said the state will not change electors to give President Trump the win, despite the vote, because doing so would “bring mutually assured destruction for every future election in regards to the Electoral College.”
In a statement, Lee Chatfield said “I fear we’d lose our country forever” should the Republicans switch the slate of electors.
“I fought hard for President Trump. Nobody wanted him to win more than me. I think he’s done an incredible job. But I love our republic, too. I can’t fathom risking our norms, traditions and institutions to pass a resolution retroactively changing the electors for Trump, simply because some think there may have been enough widespread fraud to give him the win,” he continued.
Michigan casts its electoral votes during the 2 p.m. ET hour.
See Chatfield’s full statement:
Electors across the country continue to formally cast their votes for president.
Today, 538 electors from every state and Washington, DC, are partaking in a critical part of the US electoral process, during which they will vote to affirm the votes cast during the 2020 election.
Electors vote at 1 p.m. ET in:
Here’s a step-by-step guide to today’s Electoral College vote.
CNN’s John King has more:
Pennsylvania’s electors cast their 20 votes for Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Harrisburg.
The former vice president, who was born in Scranton, won Pennsylvania by just over one percentage point, 50% to about 49% for President Donald Trump. It was Pennsylvania that put Biden “over the top” — four days after Election Day, many news outlets, including CNN, projected that Biden would carry the Keystone State, and therefore win the White House.
Biden’s victory in the Keystone State helped rebuild the “blue wall” after Pennsylvania swung to Trump in 2016 for the first time since 1988.
About the process: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results.
Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today, Dec. 14.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the moment here:
New York’s electors cast their 29 votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Albany.
Biden earned nearly 61% of the vote in the Empire State.
New York is a Democratic stronghold in presidential politics. Democrats have now carried the state in the nine presidential elections following Ronald Reagan’s win in 1984.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo led the chamber in applauding former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who were in attendance as electors. The Clintons were the first electors to cast their ballots in the state.
More on this process: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results.
Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
See more:
Connecticut’s electors cast their seven votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Hartford.
The former vice president won the state by about 20 percentage points, with 59%, compared to 39% for President Donald Trump.
Democratic presidential candidates have now carried Connecticut for the eighth straight presidential election. The last Republican to carry the state was George H.W. Bush in 1988.
Remember: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results.
Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today, Dec. 14.
It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch it here:
Why are today’s electors loyal? One of the big reasons today is a foregone conclusion can be seen in New York, which Joe Biden easily took. Look at some of the electors who just cast their votes for Biden: Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton. In Georgia, Stacey Abrams was an elector.
The fact is that the electors who get chosen for the Electoral College are almost all party loyalists.
This year the idea that a substantial number of Democrats would vote for anyone but Biden seemed far fetch. As I previously noted, Biden won a higher percentage of self-described Democratic voters than any candidate in the last 50 years. Trump, likewise, won a higher percentage of self-described Republican voters any candidate in the last 50 years.
The best chance to flip electors would probably be in a realigning election that broke old demographic and partisan patterns, one in which party loyalists felt no allegiance to the nominee of their party. That was not the 2020 campaign.
CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf is answering questions from readers about the Electoral College. You can ask your question here.
Here are some questions submitted by our readers:
The whole process seems rather cumbersome and antiquated and can produce different results than the popular vote. What would it take to remove the Electoral College process and just rely on the will of the voters? — Larry
It is definitely an antiquated system. Part of that has to do with how difficult it is to change the Constitution — very. And part of that has to do with the fact that it benefits some states. The last two Republican presidents were first elected with fewer votes than the Democrat. So Republican-leaning states are not going to be in favor of a process that dilutes their power.
One idea for reform is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact by which states would simply agree to give their electoral votes to whichever candidate won the national popular vote. Organizers have 16 states — worth 196 electoral votes — in favor of that plan already.
They argue once they reach 270, they’d essentially end-run around the Electoral College. Here’s their website. But even with the national popular vote system, you could have a winner with less than 50% of the vote. Bill Clinton won just 43% when he won in 1992, thanks to Ross Perot’s strong third-party run. Here’s the argument by University of Texas law professor made for a national presidential runoff system.
Are the results of the elector count known and made public by the end of today?
—Steve in Alfred, New York
Yes. Electors in all 50 states and DC are required by federal law to meet today and cast electoral votes. CNN is monitoring all of them and broadcast as much as possible. We’re updating the results in real time. So we’ll know today.
But it’s important to know the electoral votes won’t be officially counted until Jan. 6 during a joint session of Congress. Here’s the full timeline.
Who were Iowa’s electors? — Linda in Iowa City, Iowa
Linda! I’m glad you’ve asked this. The National Archives helps coordinate the reporting of Electoral College votes and they’ve got a link for each state’s “Certificate of Ascertainment,” which includes the names of the electors in that state. Look at them here.
But if you go there you will see there’s no certificate uploaded for Iowa! So I’ve gone to CNN’s political team’s master list of electors to bring you these seven names: David Chung, Thad Nearmyer, Ronald Forsell, Polly Granzow, Charlie Johnson and Kurt Brown.
In a 4-3 decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled against yet another President Trump lawsuit seeking to overturn the results of the November election by throwing out ballots cast in heavily Democratic Dane and Milwaukee Counties.
This is at least the third time in December alone Wisconsin’s Supreme Court has ruled against President Trump and his allies.
In the split decision the court wrote:
“We conclude the Campaign is not entitled to the relief it seeks. The challenge to the indefinitely confined voter ballots is meritless on its face, and the other three categories of ballots challenged fail under the doctrine of laches.”
The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed to hear oral arguments in the lawsuit, which was seeking to overturn the election shortly after a lower court ruled Friday there was no credible evidence of widespread fraud.
Trump and his team immediately appealed to the Supreme Court, petitioning to bypass the court of appeals.
CNN’s Adrienne Broaddus has more:
Former Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is an elector and just oversaw the roll call of electors in Atlanta.
Georgia’s electors cast their 16 votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday.
Biden is the first Democratic presidential nominee to win the Peach State in 28 years, since Bill Clinton in 1992.
Biden won Georgia by about a quarter of a percentage point over Trump, one of the narrowest margins this cycle. Republican election officials oversaw a statewide hand audit and a full machine recount, which affirmed Biden’s slim victory by only 11,779 votes out of nearly 5 million cast.
Trump unsuccessfully tried to pressure Georgia’s GOP governor and secretary of state to overturn the popular vote and instead award him the state’s 16 electoral votes.
WATCH:
Georgia’s electors cast their 16 votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Atlanta.
Biden is the first Democratic presidential nominee to win the Peach State in 28 years, since Bill Clinton in 1992.
Biden won Georgia by about a quarter of a percentage point over President Trump, one of the narrowest margins this cycle. Republican election officials oversaw a statewide hand audit and a full machine recount, which affirmed Biden’s slim victory by only 11,779 votes out of nearly 5 million cast. Trump unsuccessfully tried to pressure Georgia’s GOP governor and secretary of state to overturn the popular vote and instead award him the state’s 16 electoral votes.
About the process: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is Dec. 14.
Watch the vote:
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are among the electors who are casting Electoral College votes in New York State today.
New York has 29 electoral votes. The vote is happening inside the Assembly Chamber at the New York State Capitol in Albany, New York.
Delaware’s electors cast their three votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Dover.
Biden won his home state by 19 percentage points, about 59% to 40%. With Biden’s victory, the First State has now voted Democratic in eight consecutive presidential elections.
Watch now:
Electors across the country continue to formally cast their votes for president.
Today, 538 electors from every state and Washington, DC, are partaking in a critical part of the US electoral process, during which they will vote to affirm the votes cast during the 2020 election.
Electors vote at noon ET in:
CNN’s John King breaks it down:
Nevada’s electors just cast their six votes for President-elect Joe Biden during a virtual meeting on Monday.
Biden won Nevada by about two percentage points – 50% to about 48%. He beat Trump by about 33,000 votes.
Trump and other Republicans filed lawsuits to overturn the results, falsely claiming there was widespread fraud in Nevada, where all residents were mailed absentee ballots.
The Nevada Supreme Court unanimously rejected Trump’s long-shot lawsuit, and Nevada’s GOP secretary of state has not endorsed Trump’s conspiracy theories about the election being “rigged.”
Nevada has voted for the winning candidate in ten of the last 11 presidential elections, with 2016 the only exception.
Remember: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results.
Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today. It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
See the moment:
Iowa’s electors cast their six votes for President Trump and Vice President Pence during their meeting on Monday in Des Moines.
Trump defeated Biden by about eight percentage points, 53% to about 45%.
The Hawkeye State has voted for the winning presidential nominee in six of the last eight elections. Biden made a late visit to campaign in Des Moines, but Trump won by a comfortable margin, nearly repeating his solid 2016 performance.
Remember: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
Watch here:
For now, the Electoral College is the way this country elects presidents.
There are some efforts (mainly the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact) to try and move to a national popular vote, but those have so far been unsuccessful.
So what might get us to move away from the Electoral College? A major third party candidate with a base of support in the House of Representatives could do it.
Right now, Republicans feel they have an advantage in the Electoral College relative to the popular vote. (See the 2000 and 2016 elections.) Most Republicans are against any efforts to move toward the popular vote.
A lot of Republicans were for it, however, after the 1968 election.
In that campaign, independent George Wallace won some states and could have prevented either candidate from getting 270 electoral votes. That would have thrown the election into the House. Wallace ultimately didn’t get enough votes, but he came close. He would have had some real bargaining power given you need a majority of state delegations to win in the House.
While the effort to move to a popular vote following that election failed in the Senate, it actually got the necessary supermajority in the House of Representatives to become a constitutional amendment.
South Carolina’s electors cast their nine votes for President Trump and Mike Pence during their meeting on Monday in Columbia. The electors voted for Pence first and Trump second.
Trump won the state with 55% of the vote, which was about a 12-point win over President-elect Joe Biden’s 43% showing.
The Palmetto State has supported every Republican presidential nominee for the past 40 years.
About today’s meeting: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results. Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
Watch the vote:
Arkansas’ electors cast their six votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Little Rock.
Trump won the state with more than 62% of the vote.
Since 1980, the only Democratic presidential nominee to win Arkansas was Bill Clinton, the state’s former governor.
More on today’s process: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results.
Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
WATCH:
Electors across the country continue to formally cast their votes for president.
Today, 538 electors from every state and Washington, DC, will partake in a critical part of the US electoral process, during which they will vote to affirm the votes cast during the 2020 election.
Electors vote at 11:30 a.m. ET in:
Illinois’ electors cast their 20 votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Springfield.
Biden won about 58% of the vote in Illinois compared to Trump’s about 41%.
Democrats have now won Illinois in the last eight presidential elections, dating back to 1992, though the state supported Republicans in every presidential election from 1968 to 1988.
Among the electors was Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who chaired the gathering.
See it here:
There are some notable faces among the 538 electors who make up the Electoral College. They are gathering today across 50 states and the District of Columbia to formally cast their votes for president.
New York:
Georgia:
Illinois:
South Dakota
An elector can’t be someone who is in the Congress or is paid by the federal government, according to the Constitution. So state office holders can serve as electors, but federal office holders can not. The electors were picked in the spring or summer by state parties. They’re often party bigwigs, like governors or elder statespeople.
Read other notable names here.
Oklahoma’s electors cast their seven votes for Trump during their meeting on Monday in Oklahoma City.
Trump carried the Sooner State with about 65% of the vote.
Oklahoma is consistently a solid red state in presidential politics. Lyndon Johnson in 1964 is the only Democrat to win the state since Harry Truman did in 1948.
More on today’s process: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results.
Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
The President of the Florida State Senate, Wilton Simpson, tested positive for Covid-19 last night, according to Katie Betta, Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications for the Senate President.
Simpson will not be participating as an elector today and has notified Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to Betta.
Betta said Simpson is experiencing some symptoms which he would equate to allergies or a light cold.
What happens now: Alternate electors are present at the Florida State Capitol this morning.
The CNN team in Tallahassee has spoken to at least one alternate elector.
CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf is answering questions from readers about the Electoral College. You can ask your question here.
Here’s a question from Michael in Tucson, Arizona:
What is the mandate that an elector HAS to vote with the popular vote in state/district? What keeps them from not following the popular vote in the state?
This is a great question, since there are sometimes so-called “faithless electors” who go their own way and vote in the electoral college for someone who didn’t win their state’s election.
There have never been more than a handful of these and in most states they face penalties — fines, for instance — for not respecting the voters. One other backstop to the process is that the political parties or campaigns pick their slates of electors. Also, you make a good distinction between states and districts.
Every state gives their electors to the winner of the popular vote except two. Nebraska and Maine give two electors to the winner of the state and the others to winners of various congressional districts.
Joe Biden won Maine but President Trump got an electoral vote there. Trump won Nebraska, but Biden got an Electoral College vote there. It’s also important to remember that every state has slightly different rules relating to their elections and the Electoral College.
The National Association of Secretaries of State has a roundup of each state’s laws. See it here.
A Michigan Republican House member was stripped of his committee assignments after saying there could be violent protests in the state capitol on Monday because of the Electoral College vote.
Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield and Speaker-elect Jason Wentworth just removed Rep. Gary Eisen from his committee assignments for the rest of the term as a result of his comments from the radio interview that incited violence.
Michigan Republican House Representative Gary Eisen said during a local radio interview that he was helping coordinate protests today and could not assure a local radio host that there would not be violence as the protests unfolded.
When asked if he could assure that it would be a safe day in Lansing today and that no one would get hurt by a WPHM radio host, Eisen said, “no.”
Eisen, who was one of the Michigan lawmakers to support the Texas Attorney General lawsuit that was dismissed by the Supreme Court, would not give details about the event other than saying “it’s going to be violence, it’s going to be protests.” Eisen also was not clear about who was organizing the protests.
Eisen also said the security threat that led the state buildings to be shut down was a bomb threat from Wisconsin. CNN has not confirmed that threat instigated the closure.
“I came over last night to Lansing, to help and give my support. And now all of a sudden we’re locked out of our offices, we can’t go into the Capitol. So we are going to make an attempt because they technically can’t keep me from going into the Capitol on official business, They can’t do that. Okay, so if they do that today then we’re simply going to move our event to a different location and proceed with what we’re going to do today.”
In a statement released Monday, Chatfield and Wentworth said that they were removing Eisen for not condemning violence because “we must be clear that violence has no place in our democratic process.”
“We have been consistent in our position on issues of violence and intimidation in politics – it is never appropriate and never acceptable,” Chatfield and Wentworth said in a statement. “That is true of threats or suggestions of violence against Gov. Whitmer, Secretary Benson, Rep. Johnson and others on the Oversight committee, Republicans, Democrats, and members of the Electoral College. That applies to threats made toward public officials, and it must also apply when the public officials open the door to violent behavior and refuse to condemn it. We must do better.
Watch analysis here:
Mississippi’s electors cast their six votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Jackson.
Trump won Mississippi by more than 16 percentage points over Biden.
Mississippi has voted for the Republican candidate in every presidential election since 1980.
About the process: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results.
Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is today.
Watch here:
With the heightened attention on today’s Electoral College voting, some states are instituting increased security protocols due to concerns over safety, threats and protests.
The Michigan House and Senate offices will be closed to the public Monday after “credible threats of violence” as the state’s 16 electors prepare to cast their votes for president and vice president, a spokesperson told CNN.
In Arizona, the Electoral College will be meeting at an undisclosed location, according to the public information office for the secretary of state.
In Wisconsin, electors are being told to use an unmarked entrance with police escort, according to one of the electors.
Electors in Pennsylvania told CNN they are getting a law enforcement escort, in groups, to the venue where the vote will be held and then back to their hotels and other locations.
Pennsylvania State Police have said there are no specific threats associated with the vote— but an official with the Pennsylvania Secretary of State’s office tells CNN: “ We and our security partners are closely monitoring for threats and are taking steps to safeguard the Electoral College participants and process.”
Protestors were at the state Capitol this weekend but so far none have been seen.
CNN’s Annie Grayer, Kristina Sgueglia, Leslie Perrot, Adrienne Broaddus, Brian Todd and Bill Kirkos contributed reporting to this post.
CNN’s Kristen Holmes has more:
Indiana’s electors cast their 11 votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Indianapolis.
Trump beat Biden in Indiana by about 16 percentage points, 57% to 41%. Vice President Mike Pence represented Indiana in the House and served as governor before being selected as Trump’s running mate in 2016.
The Hoosier State is reliably Republican at the presidential level. In 2008, Barack Obama became the first Democrat to win Indiana since Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and only the second in more than 70 years. The state flipped back to Republicans in 2012, voting for Mitt Romney over Obama.
Remember: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results.
Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is December 14.
New Hampshire’s electors just cast their four votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Concord.
Former vice president Biden won New Hampshire by about 7 percentage points in 2020.
The state has voted Democratic in presidential elections in all but one cycle since 1992.
Remember: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results.
Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is Dec. 14.
See it here:
Electors across the country continue to formally cast their votes for president.
Today, 538 electors from every state and Washington, DC will partake in a critical part of the US electoral process, during which they will vote to affirm the votes of more than 150 million Americans cast during the 2020 election.
These are the states voting in the 11 a.m. ET hour:
While reading my colleague Paul LeBlanc’s post on how faithless electors won’t matter this year, it struck me how little talk there has been of faithless electors overall.
The Trump era of politics has been defined by the “unprecedented.” You might have thought therefore that President Trump, his entourage or any of his fanbase might have made a real play to get some electors to be faithless.
After all, many (though not all) are legally allowed to. Yet there doesn’t seem to have been any concrete efforts to flip electors from Biden to Trump (or Biden to anyone).
That’s far different from four years ago. There was a real movement to flip electors away from Trump. Some Hollywood actors even made a video about it.
I guess the fact that only 10 electors were “faithless” to their pledged choice (the highest since 1872) and Clinton lost more electors than Trump shows how fruitless a task it is. Biden could lose 36 electors today and still win.
Tennessee’s electors just cast their 11 votes for President Trump during their meeting on Monday in Nashville.
Trump won Tennessee by more than 23 percentage points, about 61% to 37%.
Republicans have carried Tennessee in 11 of the last 14 presidential contests.
Some more context: The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results.
Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is Dec. 14. It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
Watch the votes:
Vrmont’s electors cast their three votes for President-elect Joe Biden during their meeting on Monday in Montpelier.
These were the first electoral votes cast in the country.
Biden got 66% of Vermont’s popular vote — more than double Donald Trump’s 31% in the state. A Democratic stronghold, this is the eighth election in a row that the Green Mountain State has voted for the party’s presidential nominee.
The meeting of electors is the next major step in the Electoral College process to affirm the general election results.
Electors are required by law to vote for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is Dec. 14.
Watch the moment here:
President-elect Joe Biden will address the nation tonight in primetime with remarks focused on the Electoral College certification and the “strength and resiliency of our democracy,” according to a press release from the Biden transition team.
A key part of Biden’s pitch to voters was his promise to work to unite the country and heal political divisions. Tonight will present a prominent opportunity to do that.
The electors are gathering in all 50 states and the District of Columbia today to formally cast their ballots for President and Vice President — the next step in the process of finalizing Joe Biden’s victory.
The place in which they gather is different in each state, and often set in state law. In most states, it’s in the state capitol building or the governor’s office. The meetings are scheduled to take place between 10 a.m. ET on the East Coast and 7 p.m. ET in Hawaii.
These are the states voting in the 10 a.m. ET hour:
Remember: This is a constitutional ritual and procedural step that typically goes unnoticed, but has taken on outsize importance this year as President Trump continues to attack the election results.
Today’s electoral votes will confirm Joe Biden as the 46th president and California Sen. Kamala Harris as vice president.
The Electoral College meets Monday to cast votes for president and vice president, completing another key part of the election process that will eventually make Joe Biden the commander-in-chief next year.
This year’s process has gained special attention in light of longshot efforts by President Donald Trump to overturn the election results in several key states.
We will be covering the voting live in all 50 states and the District of Columbia today, giving you an inside look at how this critical part of America’s democracy works.
A handful of states begin voting around 10 a.m. ET and the process continues throughout the course of the day, with the last vote set to take place around 7 p.m. ET.
Electors vote at 10 a.m. ET in:
Electors vote at 11 a.m. ET in:
Electors vote at 11:30 a.m. ET in:
Electors vote at 11:45 a.m. ET in:
Electors vote at 12 p.m. ET in:
Electors vote at 12:30 p.m. ET in:
Electors vote at 1 p.m. ET in:
Electors vote at 2 p.m. ET in:
Electors vote at 3 p.m. ET in:
Electors vote at 4 p.m. ET in:
Electors vote at 4:30 p.m. ET in:
Electors vote at 5:30 p.m. ET in:
Electors vote at 7 p.m. ET in:
With President Donald Trump’s subversion efforts suffering blow after blow, some of his allies have looked to the Electoral College and the prospect of so-called “faithless electors” as a potential avenue for keeping the President in power.
Joe Biden’s sizable margin of victory, the setup of the Electoral College, and a recent Supreme Court ruling make it all but impossible for faithless electors to play any meaningful role in this year’s election.
Here’s what you need to know:
Read more here.
President-elect Joe Biden will deliver remarks following the Electoral College’s votes on Monday. The speech is expected to start at 8 p.m. ET in Wilmington, Delaware.
Since Election Day on Nov. 3, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have certified their votes and named slates of electors, who will meet today to formally cast their ballots for President and Vice President — the next step in the process of finalizing Biden’s victory.
The electors are collectively referred to as the Electoral College, and their votes are then forwarded to the president of the Senate, who counts them in a joint session of Congress after the new year.
Electors from 50 states and the District of Columbia will gather across the country today to cast their ballots and confirm Joe Biden as the rightful 46th President and California Sen. Kamala Harris as vice president.
The place in which they gather is different in each state, and often set in state law. In most states, it’s in the state capitol building or the governor’s office. The meetings are scheduled to take place between 10 a.m. ET on the East Coast and 7 p.m. ET in Hawaii.
The electors record their votes in writing and then count them. Then, they sign six copies of a Certificate of the Vote.
The National Archives will post those Certificates of Vote when they receive them, but if you want to see what they look like, here’s Washington State’s from 2016, which reflects votes for Hillary Clinton, but also rogue votes for Colin Powell and Faith Spotted Eagle.
The pandemic has impacted how some states will conduct the meeting. Nevada is holding a virtual meeting by video conference.
What happens next: The USPS has until Dec. 23 to deliver the certificates of vote to the Senate. Congress meets to count the electoral votes on January 6 (Vice President Pence will preside). The winner (Biden) is sworn in January 20.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to today’s Electoral College vote.
Electors gather today in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to formally cast their votes for president.
Americans who went to the polls on Election Day didn’t actually select the President directly. They were technically voting for 538 electors who, according to the system laid out by the Constitution, meet in their respective states and vote for president and vice president once the popular vote totals are completely counted and certified.
Many states have laws requiring their electors to support the winner of their state’s election and can levy fines against faithless electors who go their own way. The electors are collectively referred to as the Electoral College, and their votes are then forwarded to the president of the Senate, who counts them in a joint session of Congress after the new year.
Here’s a look at some key dates from now until Inauguration Day:
Dec. 23
Jan. 3
Jan. 6
Jan. 20
We’ve known for weeks that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, but our horse-and-buggy Constitution, written in a time before instant communication, works very slowly.
Since Election Day on November 3, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have certified their votes and named slates of electors, who will meet on Monday to formally cast their ballots for President and Vice President — the next step in the process of finalizing Biden’s victory.
The system has been refined in the Constitution and detailed in US law over the last 200-plus years, but hasn’t seen a major overhaul since the 1870s, when the transcontinental railroad and the telegraph were on the cutting edge of technology and innovation.
Here’s a look at what will occur today and why:
Americans who go to the polls on Election Day don’t actually select the President directly.
They are technically voting for 538 electors who, according to the system laid out by the Constitution, meet in their respective states and vote for president and vice president.
These people, the electors, comprise the Electoral College, and they will meet December 14 to cast their ballots, which will then be sent to Washington to be counted by Congress in January.
Ask us your questions about the process below:
All 50 states and the District of Columbia have certified their presidential results, according to CNN’s tally, as the Electoral College process moves ahead today with the meeting of electors.
The electors are required by law to convene on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is Dec. 14. The electors’ votes are later transmitted to officials and counted in a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6.
President-elect Joe Biden is projected to win 306 electoral votes, and Trump is projected to win 232. It takes 270 electoral votes of the 538 available to become president.
The states’ certifications come as Trump has baselessly claimed that the election was rigged and sowed doubt about the outcome of the presidential race. Dozens of lawsuits challenging the results have been dismissed at the state and federal levels across the country since the November election.
Each state has different processes for certifying results, and some states certified their slate of presidential electors separately from state and local election results.
Some states have laws that seek to bind their electors to the winning candidate and in some instances stipulate that so-called “faithless electors” may be subject to penalties or replaced by another elector.
The Supreme Court ruled this summer that such laws punishing members of the Electoral College for breaking a pledge to vote for the state’s popular vote winner are constitutional.
