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The Electoral College will count the presidential votes on Tuesday: here's how the process will work
The electoral process in the United States continues. On Tuesday, the Electoral College will convene to formally tally the votes.
Though many voters consider the November election over, there are still official proceedings yet to be carried out.
On Tuesday, December 17, the Electoral College delegates will meet in their respective states' capitals to cast the votes that will certify the results of the 2024 presidential election, in which Donald Trump emerged victorious.
In the United States, the president is elected not through a direct popular vote but via the Electoral College, consisting of 538 electors. States with larger populations have more electors. The candidate who secures the popular vote in a state receives all its electoral votes, with the exception of Nebraska and Maine. To win the presidency, a candidate must achieve at least 270 votes in the Electoral College, which represents a majority.
Here’s how the process will work
The tally shows that Trump secured 312 electoral votes compared to Kamala Harris’s 226. Electors are scheduled to gather on Tuesday to cast their votes for the candidate who prevailed in their respective states. After the voting concludes, the results will be forwarded to Washington, D.C., where they will be documented as part of the nation’s electoral history.
Typically, vote counting and certification is a smooth process. But in recent years, it has been mired in controversy. In 2016, there was an issue with “faithless electors,” who cast different votes than the winner of their state, leading to $1,000 fines and a court case that went all the way to the Supreme Court; while in 2020, Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to prevent the certification of Joe Biden as the winner when Congress was tasked with confirming the votes from the states on January 6th.
What’s next?
Votes will be tallied in January 2025, certifying the presidential election results and facilitating the transition of power. After the attack on the capital that took place in 2021, the powers of the vice president have become ceremonial, meaning Kamla Harris will not have any power to derail the proceedings. However, the vice president, who lost to Donald Trump, has made clear that it is not her intention to disrupt the process.
The inauguration ceremony is scheduled for January 20, 2025, at the United States Capitol in Washington, DC.