Nearly six weeks after Americans voted Joe Biden as the next president, the Electoral College is meeting today, Monday December 14 and will make Donald Trump’s electoral loss official.
UNITED STATES (Agencies) – In statehouses across the country, 538 electors will formally cast their votes for either Biden or Trump based on their states’ popular votes.
Biden, the president-elect, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are expected to receive 306 electoral votes, topping 232 for Trump. The electoral votes will then be counted at a special joint session of Congress on Jan 6. before Biden and Harris are inaugurated on Jan 20.
As Electoral College meetings occur across the country Monday, electors in 10 states have already cast their votes by noon EST.
Nevada, the first state to vote Monday where President Donald Trump’s campaign had contested results, cast their ballots around 11:30 a.m. EST. It was the first state to meet virtually, and the six electors held up their ballots on the screen to verify the votes. The electors voted for President-elect Joe Biden.
Electors in Indiana, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Vermont, Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Iowa all met in person to vote for their state’s respective winners. “These last four years have demonstrated how important it is to have elected leaders with confidence and good values,” said Lauren Beth Gash, an Illinois elector for Biden and former state lawmaker. “We stood in determination to fight for our democracy, to show the country and the world, once again, the best the United States has to offer. I’m honored to cast my Electoral College vote to confirm a team that will work to repair our image and lead us into a brighter future.”
Fifteen more states will meet beginning at noon ET, with three key states that Trump’s team contested — Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania — will meet at that time. Electors in those three states will cast their votes for Biden. As of noon, Biden stands at 33 electoral votes, with Trump at 49.
Electoral College meetings begin Monday, with Indiana, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Vermont the first states to have their electors meet at 10 a.m. EST. Here are the times Electoral College electors will meet in each state:
- 10 a.m. EST: Indiana, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Vermont
- 11 a.m. EST: Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, South Carolina
- 11:30 a.m. EST: Iowa, Nevada
- 11:45 a.m. EST: Kentucky
- Noon EST: Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia
- 12:30 p.m. EST: Louisiana
- 1 p.m. EST: Alabama, Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, South Dakota, Wisconsin
- 1: 45 p.m. EST: Colorado
- 2 p.m. EST: Florida, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming
- 3 p.m. EST: Alaska, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas, Washington
- 4:30 p.m. EST: Oregon
- 5 p.m. EST: California
- 7 p.m. EST: Hawaii
Vermont kicks off Electoral College vote, casting first votes for Biden.
Vermont became the first state to vote in Monday’s Electoral College meeting at 10:11 a.m. ET, with the state’s three Democratic electors voting for President-elect Joe Biden and President-elect Kamala Harris.
Electors spent no time debating. They each voted, took photos of the ballots on their cell phones, and signed the six election certificates distributed to Vice President Mike Pence in his role as Senate President, and others.
Biden defeated Trump in heavily Democratic Vermont by a margin of 66%-31%.
Shortly after Vermont’s action, Tennessee’s 11 Republican electors voted for Donald Trump and Mike Pence, becoming the second state to vote in the Electoral College meeting.
At 10:40 a.m., New Hampshire’s four electors sealed the last documents to vote for Biden and Harris, becoming the third state on the book. Indiana’s 11 electors met a little after 10 a.m. to cast their votes for President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, who won the state.
