The vote of the electors in the USA has been completed – and President-elect Donald Trump is one step closer to taking office. Hawaii marked the end of the process on Tuesday evening (local time): the four electors of the state in the Pacific voted for Democrat Kamala Harris – in accordance with the result of the presidential election on November 5th. The ten electors from the state of Maryland on the east coast kicked things off on Tuesday morning.
During the day, all 538 electors in the respective states cast their votes – a purely formal act with no surprises. As expected, the Republican Trump received 312 votes, while his Democratic opponent received 226 voters.
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Won the election clearly
Trump clearly won the US election in November. Not only did he triumph in all the crucial “swing states,” but he also became the first Republican since George W. Bush in 2004 to win the absolute majority of the popular vote nationwide.
While the “Popular Vote” reflects the total number of votes of all voters across the country, the majority in the electoral college is crucial for election victory. This system is based on the complicated “winner take all” principle – which means that a US president can be elected even if he received fewer votes nationwide than his opponent.
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Inauguration in January
The electoral votes will be sent including the signature of Vice President Harris in her role as President of the US Senate. Additional copies will be sent to the respective state secretaries of state, the presiding judge of the respective district and to the National Archives in Washington. The result will not be officially announced in Congress until January 6th. The ceremonial inauguration of the 47th President of the United States follows two weeks later.
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