President-elect Trump has clinched the necessary number of Electoral College votes to become the next occupant of the White House, teeing up the official certification of his victory before Congress next month.
Each state’s electors were required to meet on Tuesday to cast their votes for president and vice president before the results are officially certified. Trump needed to win 270 electoral votes in order to set him on the official path to be sworn into the Oval Office, which he did Tuesday afternoon, according to CNN and The Washington Post.
In the Electoral College's quirky system, voters are technically casting ballots for their presidential candidate’s slate of electors. Most of the time, whichever candidate wins the state sees their slate of electors cast their ballots, with Nebraska and Maine being the two exceptions.
Electors then meet in December, specifically the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in the month, where they officially cast their votes, otherwise known as a Certificate of Vote. Those certificates must be sent to several locations, including Congress, by Dec. 25.
Lawmakers will be required to count and certify the Electoral Colleges votes on Jan. 6, capping off the end of finalizing the 2024 election results.
The 2020 election and Republicans’ attempts to thwart President Biden’s win that year made the election certification process an unexpected focal point. A number of fake electors in states like Michigan and Nevada sought to overturn Biden’s win in favor of Trump, ultimately proving unsuccessful. Some of those same electors served as legitimate electors in casting votes for Trump this election cycle.
But Trump’s win this year has returned the Electoral College system to a largely under-the-radar process, with little scrutiny or fanfare.
