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President Donald Trump’s November victory was confirmed on Tuesday by the Electoral College.
Trump received 312 electoral votes while Vice President Kamala Harris received 226.
Once the Electoral College votes are cast and certified, they are sent to Vice President Harris, acting as President of the Senate, and the National Archivist, as outlined in a National Archives timeline.
These voting certificates must be received by the fourth Wednesday of December, which, in this year, falls on Christmas Day. The archivist then forwards the certificates to Congress no later than January 3, when the new Congress convenes.
In a largely symbolic process, Congress will convene in a joint session on Jan. 6 to officially count the Electoral College votes, with Harris presiding. Following the count, Harris will announce the election’s winner. Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance will take the oath of office during the inauguration at noon on January 20.
The Electoral College was created under Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution and later modified by the 12th Amendment in 1804. Some Democrats have begun a push to end the use of the Electoral College in presidential elections.
In both the 2000 and 2016 elections, Republicans won the presidency despite losing the national popular vote. In contrast, Trump secured the popular vote in this year’s election by a margin of approximately 2.2 million votes.
Democrat Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii co-sponsored an effort on Monday to introduce a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College.
“In an election, the person who gets the most votes should win. It’s that simple,” Schatz said in a statement. “No one’s vote should count for more based on where they live. The Electoral College is outdated and it’s undemocratic. It’s time to end it.”
The effort is largely symbolic, as support is lacking to move plan forward ahead of Trump’s return to the White House.