UPDATE: Donald Trump was officially named as the winner of the 2024 presidential election at the certification in Congress.
The count went smoothly and was finished in less than an hour.
ORIGINAL:
Congress is set to convene this afternoon to count electoral votes and formally cement President-elect Donald Trump as the winner of the 2024 presidential election.
Proceedings are scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. Eastern time.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump in November, will preside over the joint session of Congress in her role as president of the Senate.
Harris will open certificates of electoral votes from each state in alphabetical order and hand papers to tellers to be read aloud. After the certificates are read, Harris will call for any objections. An objection must be made in writing and be signed by at least one-fifth of the House and Senate and list the grounds for objection. They would have to be sustained by both chambers. No Democrats have said they plan to object.
Congress will then count the votes, and Harris will announce the result to be entered into the Journal of the House and Senate.
Harris joins a short list of other vice presidents to oversee the confirmation of their opposing candidate’s presidential win.
Richard Nixon did it after losing to John F. Kennedy in 1960. Al Gore followed suit when the U.S. Supreme Court tipped the 2000 election to George W. Bush.
A huge winter storm is battering the country with heavy snowfall, possibly impeding some lawmakers’ ability to reach the capital in time for the certification. Five inches of snow was dumped on D.C., and government offices are closed, but the certification is set to continue.
