Unsurprisingly, the American electoral college ratified, Monday, December 14, Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election of November 3 against Donald Trump.

The vote of the large voters of California, a state won overwhelmingly by Joe Biden with more than 63% of the vote, allowed the Democrat to cross the barrier of 270 votes, synonymous with victory.

Before that, the members of the electoral college designated by Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Arizona, all states where Donald Trump tried unsuccessfully to challenge the victory of his Democratic opponent in court, all have voted for Joe Biden.

The former vice-president of Barack Obama, who will become on January 20 the 46th president in the history of the country, planned to speak in the evening from his stronghold of Wilmington (Delaware).

"Turn the page"

According to extracts from his speech transmitted by his team, he will invite the Americans to "turn the page" of the Trump presidency, which refuses to recognize the result of the poll by denouncing without proof the frauds of his opponents.

"The flame of democracy was lit a long time ago in this country", must affirm the president-elect.

"And we know that nothing, not even a pandemic or an abuse of power, can extinguish this flame."

"In this battle for the soul of America, democracy has won."

This vote of the electoral college, which is usually only a formality, takes on considerable importance this year in the context of the mistrust established by the offensive led by Donald Trump to have the electoral fraud of which he accuses the Democratic Party admitted in court.

New deadline on January 6

The results of the Nov. 3 election give Joe Biden a majority of 306 of the Electoral College's 538 voters, a score well above the 270 he needs to be elected.

Each state has a quota of delegates, the number of which varies according to the local population.

All were to meet in the federated capitals to vote either for Donald Trump or for Joe Biden.

While there have sometimes been a few surprises in the electoral history of the United States, with some delegates changing allegiance at the last moment, the vast majority of them will content themselves with validating the November 3 result.

Despite Donald Trump's renewed calls, the traditionally Republican states where the president has been beaten by Joe Biden have largely ignored his wish to have a parallel electoral college appointed there that would be favorable to him.

Delegate ballots will be sent to Congress where an official count will be taken on January 6 to set Joe Biden's election in stone.

Ultimate playing card

If he said last month that he would leave the White House if the voters nominate his Democratic opponent, Donald Trump has meanwhile stepped up his legal offensive in the courts to try to get millions of ballots canceled. and reverse the balance of power.

Failure to do so, he will have one final card to play in asking Congress to refuse to approve the result of Monday.

The American parliamentarians can indeed challenge individually the result of the vote of the electoral college.

This last episode could lead to some final quibbles.

Here again, this attempt by the Trump camp is likely to fail, the House of Representatives being controlled by the Democratic Party and several Republican senators having warned that they would respect the result of the ballot of November 3 and therefore, that of this Monday. .

In a scathing editorial, the Wall Street Journal said it was time for Donald Trump to change his posture.

"There is a time to fight and there is a time to recognize defeat," he said.

With AFP and Reuters

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