LANSING, Michigan/WILMINGTON, Delaware: Democrat Joe Biden called on Americans to “turn the page” on the Trump era in a prime-time speech on Monday, hours after prevailing over the Republican in the state-by-state Electoral College vote that officially determines the US presidency.
The vote, typically a formality, assumed outsized significance in light of President Donald Trump’s extraordinary effort to subvert the process due to what he has falsely alleged was widespread voter fraud in the Nov. 3 election.
Some Trump supporters had called for protests on social media, and election officials had expressed concern about the potential for violence amid the president’s heated rhetoric. But Monday’s vote proceeded smoothly, with no major disruptions.
California, the most-populous US state, put Biden over the 270 votes needed to win the Electoral College when its 55 electors unanimously cast ballots for him and his running mate, Kamala Harris. Biden and Harris — the first woman, first Black person and first Asian American to become vice president-elect — will be sworn in on Jan. 20.
Biden earned 306 electoral votes in November compared with 232 for Trump.
“The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago,” he said in his speech to mark his Electoral College victory. “And we now know that nothing — not even a pandemic — or an abuse of power — can extinguish that flame.
“In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed.”
Under a complicated system dating back to the 1780s, a candidate becomes US president not by winning the popular vote but through the Electoral College system, which allots electoral votes to the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on congressional representation. (Here’s a graphic on how the Electoral College works: https://tmsnrt.rs/3lUKcgv)
In 2016, Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton despite losing the national popular vote by nearly 3 million ballots. Biden won the popular vote in November by more than 7 million votes.
Electors are typically party loyalists who are unlikely to break ranks, although there are sometimes a handful of electors who cast ballots for someone other than the winner of their states. In 2016, for instance, seven electors went “rogue,” a historically unusual number but still far from enough to change the outcome.
Few observers had expected Monday’s vote to alter the election’s outcome. With Trump’s legal challenges floundering, the president’s dim hopes of clinging to power rest in persuading Congress not to certify the Electoral College vote in a special Jan. 6 session — an effort almost certain to fail.
Trump had also pressured Republican lawmakers in battleground states that Biden won, such as Pennsylvania and Michigan, to set aside the vote totals and appoint their own competing slates of electors. But lawmakers largely dismissed the notion.
“I fought hard for President Trump. Nobody wanted him to win more than me,” Lee Chatfield, Republican speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives, said in a statement. “But I love our republic, too. I can’t fathom risking our norms, traditions and institutions to pass a resolution retroactively changing the electors for Trump.”
In Arizona, at the beginning of the electors’ meeting there, the state’s Democratic secretary of state, Katie Hobbs, said Trump’s claims of fraud had “led to threats of violence against me, my office and those in this room today,” echoing similar reports of threats and intimidation in other states.
“While there will be those who are upset their candidate didn’t win, it is patently un-American and unacceptable that today’s event should be anything less than an honored tradition held with pride and in celebration,” Hobbs said.
A group of Trump supporters called on Facebook for protests all day on Monday in Lansing, Michigan, outside the state Capitol, which was closed to the public as a security precaution.
But by early afternoon, only a handful had gathered, including Bob Ray, 66, a retired construction worker. He held a sign that read: “Order a forensic audit,” “save America” and “stop communism.”
Electors received a police escort to and from the building. One elector, Marseille Allen, told MSNBC she wore a bulletproof vest at the urging of family and friends.
A small group of Republicans who claimed to be electors for their party sought to gain access to the Capitol building as the proceedings were getting under way but were refused entry by police.
They asked for a slate to be delivered to Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, but the officer at the door told them he would not deliver the paperwork and that they should contact the officials independently.
Trump said late last month he would leave the White House if the Electoral College voted for Biden, but he has since shown little interest in conceding. On Monday, he repeated a series of unsupported claims.
“Swing States that have found massive VOTER FRAUD, which is all of them, CANNOT LEGALLY CERTIFY these votes as complete & correct without committing a severely punishable crime,” he wrote on Twitter.
Trump’s sole remaining gambit is to convince Congress to reject the results in January.
Under federal law, any member of Congress may object to a particular state’s electoral count during the Jan. 6 session. Each chamber of Congress must then debate the challenge before voting by simple majority on whether to sustain it.
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives is sure to reject any such challenge, while senior Senate Republicans in the Senate on Monday dismissed the idea of overturning the result.
‘Democracy prevailed,’ Biden says after US Electoral College confirms his win
https://arab.news/c7579
‘Democracy prevailed,’ Biden says after US Electoral College confirms his win
Uganda’s presidential election experiences hours of delays at some polling stations
- Some polling stations remained closed for up to four hours after the scheduled 7 a.m. start time due to “technical challenges“
- The East African country of roughly 45 million people has 21.6 million registered voters
KAMPALA, Uganda: Uganda’s presidential election was plagued by widespread delays Thursday in addition to a days-long Internet shutdown that has been criticized as an anti-democratic tactic in a country where the president has held office since 1986.
Some polling stations remained closed for up to four hours after the scheduled 7 a.m. start time due to “technical challenges,” according to the nation’s electoral commission, which asked polling officers to use paper registration records to ensure the difficulties did not “disenfranchise any voter.”
President Yoweri Museveni, 81, faces seven other candidates, including Robert Kyagulanyi, a musician-turned-politician best known as Bobi Wine, who is calling for political change.
The East African country of roughly 45 million people has 21.6 million registered voters. Polls are expected to close at 4 p.m. Thursday, according to the electoral commission. Results are constitutionally required to be announced in 48 hours.
Impatient crowds gathered outside polling stations expressing concerns over the delays Thursday morning. Umaru Mutyaba, a polling agent for a parliamentary candidate, said it was “frustrating” to be waiting outside a station in the capital Kampala.
“We can’t be standing here waiting to vote as if we have nothing else to do,” he said.
Wine alleged there was electoral fraud occurring, noting that biometric voter identification machines were not working at polling places and claiming there was “ballot stuffing.”
“Our leaders, including Deputy President for Western Region, arrested. Many of our polling agents and supervisors abducted, and others chased off polling stations,” Wine wrote in a post on social media platform X.
Museveni told journalists he was notfied biometric machines were inoperable at some stations and he supported the electoral body’s decision to revert to paper registration records. He did not comment on the allegation of fraud.
Ssemujju Nganda, a prominent opposition figure and lawmaker seeking reelection in Kira municipality, told The Associated Press he had been waiting in line to vote for three hours.
Nganda also noted biometric machines were malfunctioning, in addition to the late arrival of balloting materials, and predicted the delays likely would lead to apathy and low turnout in urban areas where the opposition has substantial support.
“It’s going to be chaos,” he said Thursday morning.
Nicholas Sengoba, an independent analyst and newspaper columnist, said delays to the start of voting in urban, opposition areas favored the ruling party.
Museveni serving Africa’s third-longest presidential term
Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.
Museveni has served the third-longest term of any African leader and is seeking to extend his rule into a fifth decade. Some critics say removing him through elections remains difficult, but the aging president’s authority has become increasingly dependent on the military led by his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
Museveni and Wine are reprising their rivalry from the previous election in 2021, when Wine appealed to mostly young people in urban areas. With voter turnout of 59 percent, Wine secured 35 percent of the ballots against Museveni’s 58 percent, the president’s smallest vote share since his first electoral campaign three decades ago.
The lead-up to Thursday’s election produced concerns about transparency, the possibility of hereditary rule, military interference and opposition strategies to prevent vote tampering at polling stations.
Uganda’s Internet was shut down Tuesday by the government communications agency, which cited misinformation, electoral fraud and incitement of violence. The shutdown has affected the public and disrupted critical sectors such as banking.
Heavy security deployed
There has been heavy security leading up to voting, including military units deployed on the streets this week.
Amnesty International said security forces are engaging in a “brutal campaign of repression,” citing a Nov. 28 opposition rally in eastern Uganda where the military blocked exits and opened fire on supporters, killing one person.
Museveni urged voters to come out in large numbers during his final rally Tuesday.
“You go and vote, anybody who tries to interfere with your freedom will be crushed. I am telling you this. We are ready to put an end to this indiscipline,” he said.
The national electoral commission chairperson, Simon Byabakama, urged tolerance among Ugandans as they vote.
“Let us keep the peace that we have,” Byabakama said late Wednesday. “Let us be civil. Let us be courteous. Let’s be tolerant. Even if you know that this person does not support (your) candidate, please give him or her room or opportunity to go and exercise his or her constitutional right.”
Authorities also suspended the activities of several civic groups during the campaign season. That Group, a prominent media watchdog, closed its office Wednesday after the interior ministry alleged in a letter that the group was involved in activities “prejudicial to the security and laws of Uganda.”
Veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, remains in prison after he was charged with treason in February 2025.
