There are a few more steps officials in the the U.S. must take to confirm Trump’s Electoral College victory including Vice President Kamala Harris who’s overseeing Congress’ certification of her election loss. But Harris is far from the first presidential candidate to follow through this procedure.
In 1961, then-Vice President Richard Nixon verified the votes during a joint session of Congress for president-elect John F. Kennedy.
Eight years later, Nixon would win the White House. The loser in that election, Vice President Hubert Humphrey oversaw that electoral college certification.
Fast forward to 2000 Vice President Al Gore helped verify the votes for president-elect George W. Bush.
Lawmakers can object to a state’s results during the certification, as several Republicans did after the 2020 election. On Jan. 6, 2021, the House and Senate both voted to reject GOP objections to the Arizona and Pennsylvania results.
After Trump tried to overturn his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden and Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, Congress updated the 1800s-era Electoral Count Act to make it harder to object and to more clearly lay out the vice president’s ceremonial role, among other changes. Trump had pressured Vice President Mike Pence to try and object to the results — something the vice president has no legal standing to do.
Once Congress certifies the vote, the new or returning president will be inaugurated Jan. 20 on the steps of the Capitol.
Source: Africanews
