Biden’s path to being sworn in – that’s how it continues in the USA
US President Trump still does not want to admit his defeat in the election. But with each day that passes, Joe Biden is getting closer to being sworn in as his successor. There are important milestones along the way. An overview:
What is the “safe haven” about?
The “Safe Harbor” deadline expires on Tuesday (today), the deadline for the “safe harbor”. If states have reported their certified results to Washington by then, they will be considered “final” by the US Congress – the parliament. Then, unlike in the case of results that are still controversial in the states themselves after this period, Congress can no longer influence these results. However, this period is not binding for the states. In addition, should the results be controversial in a state, Congress could theoretically decide who its electorate goes to. The deadline is a consequence of the controversial presidential election in 1876, after which several states reported conflicting results.
Are the results already certified in major states?
The six particularly controversial states have already certified the results – in all of them Biden and his vice-candidate Kamala Harris have won. Georgia was certified on November 20th (and again on Monday), Michigan and Pennsylvania on November 23rd, Nevada on November 24th, Arizona on November 30th, and Wisconsin on December 1st. That did not mean that legal action could not be taken afterwards – the Trump team took legal action against the results even after the certifications, but so far remained unsuccessful. Trump’s efforts suffered another setback due to the corona infection of his lawyer Rudy Giuliani. The former New York City mayor is leading legal attempts to tip the election results in Trump’s favor.
Have Trump’s lawsuits changed anything so far?
No, not in a single case. Trump attorneys and supporters have filed dozens of lawsuits in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona and Wisconsin. Most of them have been turned down or dropped, and some are still pending. It was about the fact that certain votes were not allowed to be counted or that certain deadlines for postal votes were illegal. Also, vote recounts requested by Trump’s team did not change the results in the states. Despite the failures, Trump continues to insist that there has been a massive amount of fraud.
What’s next now?
On December 14th – six days after the “Safe Harbor” deadline – the electorate will meet in the respective states. Each electoral representative casts one vote for the president and one for the vice-president. These votes are recorded in lists, certified, sealed and then transmitted to the President of the Senate (the US Vice President fulfills this function) and the Federal Archives in Washington, among others. They must be received there by December 23rd. On January 6, the House of Representatives and Senate will meet to count the votes from the states and announce the result. The winner is whoever can unite at least 270 of the 538 voters. According to the preliminary results, Biden has 306 voters, Trump has 232.
Can Trump still win in the end?
Trump and close allies claim this, but experts see no realistic chance for it. Even if one of his lawsuits were successful: Given Biden’s lead, it would not be enough if Trump could overturn the result in a single state like Georgia, for example – Biden would still have more than enough votes. Democrat attorney Marc Elias said in a video at the end of November: “You can rest assured that we are on the direct path to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris being sworn in on January 20th at noon – and that Joe Biden, the 46th. Will be President of the United States. “(Dpa)
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