The Electoral College voted on Monday to certify Democrat Joe Biden as president of the United States, after the Supreme Court rejected the demands of Republican Donald Trump, who has not yet recognized defeat.
Biden
will take office on January 20, 2021.
The Democrat won 306 votes in the Electoral College, above the minimum of 270 required, while Trump was left with 232 voters out of the total of 538.
[This is how the Electoral College works, which this Monday determines the end of the presidential race]
In recent weeks, however, various courts in various states of the country have dismissed the lawsuits filed by the outgoing president's campaign, mostly due to lack of evidence, and have validated Biden's victory.
The coup de grace to Trump's latest attempt to overturn the result of the November presidential election was dealt by the Supreme Court on Friday when it rejected a lawsuit filed by Texas.
Trump, however, refuses to accept the decision of the highest court in the country.
"No, it is not over. We will continue. And we will continue to move forward," Trump said this Sunday in an interview on the conservative Fox News network, despite the fact that there are no clear legal channels to challenge Biden's victory at the polls.
And shortly thereafter, on his way to his private golf club in Sterling, Virginia, for Sunday, he tweeted:
"Most corrupt elections in American history."
President-elect Joe Biden speaks as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris listens to the left during an event at The Queen Theater, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. AP Photo / Andrew Harnik
Although Americans voted at the polls on November 3, the formally recognized result is Electoral College votes, distributed proportionally by population among the 50 states of the country plus the District of Columbia, where the capital, Washington, is located.
Voting in the Electoral College is carried out by voters assigned in each state, usually representatives of political parties or state officials, and who reflect the result at the polls on November 3.
[Supreme Court rejects Trump-backed Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate millions of votes for Biden]
Once the count is completed, it will be sent to the President of the Senate in Washington, a position held by Vice President Mike Pence, for confirmation of the result on January 6.
Then, on January 20, Biden's inauguration ceremony is celebrated as the 46th president of the United States.
[Biden nominates Xavier Becerra to lead the Department of Health and Human Services]
Trump continues to allege without evidence that an alleged mass electoral "fraud" occurred.
This position has been joined by a large part of his followers,
which has increased the already tense political division in the country.
Donald Trump lashes out at Supreme Court after refusing to overturn Joe Biden's victory
Dec. 13, 202000: 30
On Saturday night, four people were stabbed in Washington after clashes between Trump supporters and counter-protesters.
The clashes
occurred after marches under the slogan "Stop the robbery"
held in the capital by pro-Trump activists.
[Oil, one of the weapons with which Trump won the vote in Texas]
"We are in a spiritual battle for the heart and soul of this country. We will win," said Michael Flynn, the first of several National Security advisers. of Trump, one of the speakers at the rally.
Biden has tried to give an image of normality in the face of Trump's aggressive rhetoric, and amid concern about the rise in infections due to the coronavirus pandemic in the country, he
has been announcing his nominations for the main positions of his Administration.
[Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are named Characters of the Year by Time magazine]
At the moment it has already featured Xavier Becerra as Secretary of Health, Janet Yellen as Secretary of the Treasury and retired General Lloyd Austin as Secretary of Defense.
He has also pledged to reintegrate the US into the Paris Climate Agreement "on the first day" of his presidency and to convene a world summit on the issue in his "first 100 days" at the White House.
With information from EFE, Fox News and AP.