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(Epoch Times) The U.S. Congress on Jan. 6 certified President-elect Donald Trump’s electoral victory in the 2024 election, marking the official final step to guarantee Trump’s position as the incoming commander-in-chief.
Following in the footsteps of Al Gore and Walter Mondale, Vice President Kamala Harris oversaw the certification of her own election loss to Trump. The process confirmed that Trump received 312 electoral votes while Harris received 226.
The certification was largely uneventful, with Democrats raising no challenges to any of Trump’s electoral wins.
Harris, in her role as president of the Senate, supervised the joint session of Congress at 1 p.m. ET as it certified Trump’s win.
“This duty is a sacred obligation, one I will uphold, guided by love of country, loyalty to our Constitution, and my unwavering faith in the American people,” Harris said ahead of the certification.
Trump, meanwhile, emphasized the importance of the certification.
🚨Trump’s victory in the 2024 Presidential Election is officially certified.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 6, 2025
Each state’s slate of electors was read off in alphabetical order and approved by the Congress, gathered as is custom for joint sessions in the House chamber.
While there were objections in 2001, 2005, 2017, and 2021, no challenges were made to the 2024 election during the certification—one of the few times in this millennium that’s been the case.
In the 2021 certification process, some members of the House and Senate objected to results from battleground states where they believed election fraud was committed.
The objection can only be made in the name of states unlawfully certifying their election results as opposed to a basis of electoral fraud, thereby avoiding a repeat of 2021 and other past election certifications.
When there is an objection, Senate and House members go to their respective chambers and debate the challenge.
Harris is the first presidential candidate in more than 20 years to certify her own defeat for the presidency. This last occurred in 2001, when Gore presided over his highly contested loss to President George W. Bush.
Due in part to limited law enforcement at the Capitol, a breakdown of order occurred and hundreds of protesters entered the Capitol; while most were peaceful and entered through main entrances, a minority were accused of violent crimes—assaulting police officers, carrying lethal weapons, and breaking Capitol windows.
The disorder resulted in the deaths of several Trump supporters, including Rosanne Boyland and Navy veteran Ashli Babbitt. No Capitol Police officers were killed in direct connection to the events of the day.
The incident prompted Congress to pause the certification of the 2020 results, which consisted of challenges from Republican House and Senate members over the results in states including Arizona and Pennsylvania. Pence and congressional members were hidden for their own protection.
In the morning hours of Jan. 7, 2021, Congress certified Biden’s win.
This time around, there was a heavy security presence around the Capitol with large-scale fencing around the complex and officers from multiple law enforcement agencies patrolling the area amid snowy conditions.
