The 2024 presidential election is over, but the path to Inauguration Day on Jan. 20 is just beginning.

This presidential election will be the first since the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.

To voters in many other democracies, the process of electing a president in the U.S. is a head-scratcher.

The Electoral College is the unique American system of electing presidents.

Felony forgery charges have been filed in Wisconsin against two attorneys and an aide who helped submit paperwork falsely saying that former President Donald Trump had won the battleground state in 2020.

Ten Republicans who posed as fake electors for former President Donald Trump in Wisconsin and filed paperwork falsely saying he had won the battleground state have settled a civil lawsuit and admitted their actions were part of an effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory.

State attorneys general and the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol are digging deeper into the role that fake slates of electors played in the desperate effort by former President Donald Trump to cling to power after his 2020 defeat.

Former President Donald Trump is intensifying his effort to advance the false narrative that his vice president, Mike Pence, could have done something to prevent Joe Biden from taking office.

The House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection has subpoenaed more than a dozen individuals who it says falsely tried to declare Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 election.

Partisan election reviews of the 2020 presidential election are underway in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin while Republican lawmakers elsewhere continue their calls to bring them to their states.

Nebraska's Republican-controlled legislature is considering changes to the congressional map that would give them an edge in a competitive congressional seat — and the presidential election.

The Pentagon is taking a rare look at whether it is properly prepared for an emergency in which the portable communications system nicknamed the “nuclear football," which always accompanies the president, is lost or stolen.

Officials in Arizona’s largest county plan to stop using voting machines turned over to contractors hired by Republican state senators for a partisan audit of the 2020 election.

The House Ethics Committee has announced an investigation into Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.

In this image from video, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., speaks as the House debates the objection to confirm the Electoral College vote from Pennsylvania, at the U.S. Capitol early Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. (House Television via AP)WASHINGTON – Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump, is launching a political action committee to push back against a House GOP leadership team and party that he says have become too closely aligned to the former president. And I think most Republicans didn’t sign up for that.”“It doesn’t mean we don’t need to fight back, you know, to defend what we believe, conservative principles,” he added. “Republicans must say enough is enough," Kinzinger says in the video. “It’s time to unplug the outrage machine, reject the politics of personality, and cast aside the conspiracy theories and the rage.”

___6:25 p.m.President Donald Trump has released a video condemning the violent insurrection he fomented at the Capitol last week. Ten Republican House members voted to impeach President Donald Trump over the deadly insurrection at the Capitol. ___1:05 p.m.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is suggesting that President Donald Trump should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for promoting Arab-Israeli peace. ___12:45 p.m.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says President Donald Trump represents a “clear and present danger” to the nation and must be impeached. ___8:15 a.m.Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger is predicting more Republicans will join him in voting to impeach President Donald Trump.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, front, followed by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., walk from the House Chamber following a Senate procession carrying boxes holding Electoral College votes to the House Chamber for a joint session to confirm the Electoral College votes, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. If Ted Cruz was a friend of mine would be obligated to tell him to shut the #%€¥ up. Saying that..he still needs to be quiet and stop embarrassing himself, his family and our state. — Lyle Larson (@RepLyleLarson) January 11, 2021Cruz was among 16 Texans in Congress who still voted to object to the electoral college count based on unsubstantiated fraud claims brought by Trump. Since Wednesday, Texas Democrats including U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro and former San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro have called for Cruz’s resignation.

Protesters, newspaper editorial boards and local-level Democrats have urged the lawmakers to step down or for their colleagues to kick them out. The House and Senate can remove members with a two-thirds vote or censure or reprimand with a majority. In St. Louis on Saturday, several hundred people protested against Sen. Josh Hawley, the first-term Missouri Republican who led efforts in the Senate to overturn Biden's election. Johnson initially supported Trump's baseless claims of election fraud, but after the riot, he voted in favor of Biden's win. Perry condemned the Capitol violence.

Following the destruction and chaos that erupted at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, President Donald Trump is officially waving his white flag and conceding to President-elect Joe Biden. The president shared his concession speech in a video on Twitter Thursday afternoon after his account was locked for 12 hours. America is and must always be a nation of law and order,” Trump said in the video. God bless you, and God bless America.”Congress confirmed Biden’s electoral win early Thursday. Both he and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn in to the White House in just a few weeks.

This was a big day, especially for the House and Senate leadership lane, one of my specialties. Smith Goes to Washington” you've seen my work area since a press gallery scene from the movie was filmed there more than 70 years ago. (The Senate chamber, however, was a soundstage). The mob was out of the building by then and, strangely, it almost seemed boring, waiting for the Capitol to be declared safe. The Daily Press Gallery where I work had not been breached.

In this image from video, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, speaks as the House reconvenes to debate the objection to confirm the Electoral College vote from Arizona, after protesters stormed into the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. (House Television via AP)U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Austin, a Republican who has remained defiant against some Texas Republicans and allies of President Donald Trump during the election certification process, has called for rioters to be jailed after Wednesday’s siege of the U.S. Capitol. “The president should never have spun up certain Americans to believe something that simply cannot be,” he said Wednesday after the violence. And that vote may well sign my political death warrant, but so be it. Full speech: pic.twitter.com/lRt4VoXQtY — Rep. Chip Roy (@RepChipRoy) January 7, 2021Lawmakers had to reconvene after Trump supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol, which happened after a rally that Trump spoke at.

Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi preside over a joint session of Congress to certify the 2020 Electoral College results, after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol earlier in the day. But overall, Congress overwhelmingly voted against the objection by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to the certification of Arizona's results. Later, the Senate voted 92-7 against an objection to certifying Pennsylvania's results; House members rejected it 282-138. All Texas Democrats voted against the objections. New Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Irving, was the only Texan to split her vote — she supported certifying Arizona's results but voted against certifying Pennsylvania's.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, front, followed by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., walk from the House Chamber following a Senate procession carrying boxes holding Electoral College votes to the House Chamber for a joint session to confirm the Electoral College votes, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. On Wednesday, Cruz and Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz, led a dispute to certify electoral votes from Arizona, punctuating Trump’s baseless claims of widespread election fraud. Following the chaos, lawmakers reconvened and completed the Electoral College tally before dawn Thursday. “Now, Congress must fulfill our constitutional responsibility to complete the Electoral College certification process. WATCH: Congress certifies Biden’s electoral college winRead also:

Violent protesters loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol Wednesday, disrupting the process. One Republican lawmaker publicly called for invoking the 25th Amendment to force Trump from office before Biden is inaugurated. The support Trump has received for his efforts to overturn the election results have badly strained the nation’s democratic guardrails. Some House lawmakers tweeted they were sheltering in place in their offices. The Pentagon said about 1,100 District of Columbia National Guard members were being mobilized to help support law enforcement at the Capitol.

SAN ANTONIO – Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar has condemned the violent actions that happened on Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol to obstruct the certification of the Electoral College votes of the November 2020 election. Earlier on Wednesday, pro-Trump supporters forced their way into the U.S. Capitol to condemn the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump. Police evacuated at least two buildings on Capitol Hill as protestors tore down and crossed police barriers to enter the buildings. One woman was shot and killed during the protestors’ march on Capitol Hill. “I can assure you that all proactive measures to safeguard Bexar County facilities, staff, and processes are being implemented.”Related: Trump tells supporters to ‘go home in peace’ in video from White House following chaos at US Capitol

(Getty Images)Police officers confront protesters in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)Pro-Trump protesters gather in front of the U.S. Capitol Building. (Getty Images)A Capitol police officer looks out of a broken window as protesters gather on the U.S. Capitol Building. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) (2021 Getty Images)Protesters gather outside the U.S. Capitol Building. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) (2021 Getty Images)A protester holds a Trump flag inside the U.S. Capitol Building near the Senate Chamber. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) (2021 Getty Images)

SAN ANTONIO – (Editor’s note: Thanks to Catholic TV San Antonio for providing the feed for the prayer service.) We have seen too much violence in the United States recently – political violence, racial violence -- and even the violence caused by the COVID-19 virus, which attacks the body,” Garcia-Siller said in a written statement. Providentially, Pope Francis has called for a ‘culture of care’ in his 2021 World Day of Peace message,” Garcia-Siller continued in his statement. May Mary, our mother and the mother of God, unite our country and bring all her children together,” Garcia-Siller said. The archbishop will hold a small prayer service at 1 p.m. Thursday at San Fernando Cathedral to pray for peace.

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden delivers remarks on the U.S. response to the COVID-19 outbreak, at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, on Dec. 29, 2020. Credit: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst(Audio unavailable. Click here to listen on texastribune.org.) Editor's note: This TribCast was recorded before Congress convened to certify Electoral College votes and before rioters stormed the Capitol and interrupted those proceedings. In this edition of the TribCast, Emma talks to Abby, Ross and Cassi about Electoral College drama at the U.S. Capitol — and a new session about to start at the Texas Capitol.

SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg denounced the violent protesters in Washington, D.C., who were at the U.S. Capitol to try to obstruct the certification of the Electoral College votes of the November 2020 election in which President-elect Joe Biden won with 306 electoral votes. Nirenberg took to Twitter to express his disdain for the rioting at the nation’s Capitol. “It is an extraordinarily sad day when rioters storm our nation’s Capitol to violently disrupt Congress as it works to certify the electoral college vote. This is a naked act of insurrection and should be treated as such,” Nirenberg tweeted. It is an extraordinarily sad day when rioters storm our nation’s Capitol to violently disrupt Congress as it works to certify the electoral college vote.

Full Screen Full Screen 1 / 47 People attend a rally in support of President Donald Trump called the "Save America Rally," Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. During the rally, Trump egged them on to march to Capitol Hill. Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. As Congress prepares to affirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory, thousands of people have gathered to show their support for President Donald Trump and his claims of election fraud. Congress held a joint session today to ratify President-elect Joe Biden's 306-232 Electoral College win over President Donald Trump.

With the Washington Monument in the background, people attend a rally in support of President Donald Trump near the White House on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. Click here to read the latest on Donald Trump, and here to read the latest on a joint session to confirm the Electoral College vote won by Joe Biden.) President Donald Trump will speak to his supporters at a “Save America Rally” as lawmakers convene for a joint session to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win. Lawmakers are set to convene at noon for a joint session to confirm the Electoral College vote won by Biden. Vice President Mike Pence, who will preside over the joint session, is under growing pressure by Trump to overturn Biden’s win.

Cruz led the first challenge to Joe Biden’s defeat of President Donald Trump by objecting to Arizona’s results. Earlier Wednesday, supporters of President Donald Trump breached the U.S. Capitol, forcing a lockdown of the lawmakers and staff inside. __11:10 p.m.Four people died as supporters of President Donald Trump violently occupied the U.S. Capitol. ___6:30 p.m.Republican Sen. Mitt Romney is blaming President Donald Trump for inciting a violent “insurrection” at the Capitol. President Trump lost.″___6:25 p.m.President Donald Trump has appeared to justify the violent occupation of the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., leaves the House chamber for the Senate to consider objections to certify Electoral College votes, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. All 50 states have certified the electoral votes. Freshman Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has said he will challenge Pennsylvania's electoral votes. Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia were all pivotal states that Biden carried on his way to his 306-232 Electoral College win. McConnell, 78, has been the Republican leader since 2007 and is the longest-serving Senate GOP leader in history.

Together, the protests and the GOP election objections amounted to an almost unthinkable challenge to American democracy and exposed the depths of the divisions that have coursed through the country during Trump’s four years in office. Congress reconvened in the evening, lawmakers decrying the protests that defaced the Capitol and vowing to finish confirming the Electoral College vote for Biden’s election, even if it took all night. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress would show the world “what America is made of" with the outcome. Tensions were already running high when lawmakers gathered early Wednesday afternoon for the constitutionally mandated counting of the Electoral College results, in which Biden defeated Trump, 306-232. Some House lawmakers tweeted they were sheltering in place in their offices.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, announced Tuesday that he isn’t planning to object to the certification of the Electoral College vote in Congress, splitting with a growing number of GOP colleagues that most notably includes the state’s junior senator, Ted Cruz. Trump has continued to push baseless claims of widespread fraud in the election, including at a campaign rally Monday night in Georgia. In his letter, Cornyn made clear he was not a fan of Cruz's audit proposal, which Cruz has said can be done in the 10 days before the inauguration. "As to timing and practicality of an emergency audit, I am much more dubious," Cornyn said. Wright and Carter both represent districts that national Democrats targeted in November, though both ultimately won reelection by comfortable margins.

Though he got nothing but cheers Monday night, Trump's attempt to overturn the presidential election i s splitting the Republican Party. Trump himself is whipping up crowds for a Wednesday rally near the White House. Trump said in Georgia: “I hope that our great vice president comes through for us. Two current Republican senators, Rob Portman of Ohio and Mike Lee of Utah, joined the growing number who now oppose the legislators' challenge. Larry Hogan of Maryland; Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the third-ranking House GOP leader; and former House Speaker Paul Ryan — have criticized the GOP efforts to overturn the election.

Of the more than 50 lawsuits the president and his allies have filed challenging election results, nearly all have been dismissed or dropped. Other prominent former officials also criticized the ongoing attack on election results. Cruz's coalition of 11 Republican senators vows to reject the Electoral College tallies unless Congress launches a commission to immediately conduct an audit of the election results. The convening of the joint session to count the Electoral College votes has faced objections before. States choose their own election officials and draft their election laws.

Caught in the middle is Vice President Mike Pence, who faces growing pressure and a lawsuit from Trump's allies over his ceremonial role in presiding over the session Wednesday. Biden is set to be inaugurated Jan. 20 after winning the Electoral College vote 306-232. “A suit to establish that the Vice President has discretion over the count, filed against the Vice President, is a walking legal contradiction,” the department argues. The Republican leader pointedly called on Hawley to answer questions about his challenge to Biden's victory, according to two of the Republicans. When Biden was vice president, he, too, presided over the session as the Electoral College presented the 2016 vote tally to Congress to confirm Trump the winner.

In this Nov. 5, 2020 file photo, The Supreme Court is seen in Washington. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – Undeterred by dismissals and admonitions from judges, President Donald Trump's campaign continued with its unprecedented efforts to overturn the results of the Nov 3. election Sunday, saying it had filed a new petition with the Supreme Court. The petition seeks to reverse a trio of Pennsylvania Supreme Court cases having to do with mail-in ballots and asks the court to reject voters' will and allow the Pennsylvania General Assembly to pick its own slate of electors. The Supreme Court has also refused to take up two cases — decisions that Trump has scorned. The Trump campaign’s filing Sunday appears to target three decisions of Pennsylvania’s Democratic-majority state Supreme Court.

On Dec. 18, 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery, was declared in effect by Secretary of State William H. Seward. In 1917, Congress passed the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibiting “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” and sent it to the states for ratification. In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson, whose first wife, Ellen, had died the year before, married Edith Bolling Galt, a widow, at her Washington home. Prohibition came into force at midnight on Jan. 16, 1920, and wouldn't end until the 1933 ratification of the 21st Amendment, which repealed the 18th Amendment. In 1957, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States, went on line.

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)WASHINGTON – The congressional joint session to count electoral votes is generally a routine, ceremonious affair. Under federal law, Congress must meet Jan. 6 to open sealed certificates from each state that contain a record of their electoral votes. The Constitution requires Congress to meet and count the electoral votes. The presiding officer opens and presents the certificates of the electoral votes in alphabetical order of the states. The tellers then record and count the votes, and the presiding officer announces who has won the majority votes for both president and vice president.

Upon Joe Biden securing 306 electoral votes during Monday's meeting of the Electoral College, The Texas Tribune polled all Texans in Congress with the question: "With a majority of the Electoral College voting for Biden today, do you accept Joe Biden as the president-elect?" Credit: REUTERS/Al DragoA growing number of Texas Republicans are moving toward the reality that in a little over a month, former Vice President Joe Biden will become president of the United States. But a large number of GOP members of the Texas delegation still have not acknowledged Biden's victory. Upon Biden securing 306 electoral votes during Monday's meeting of the Electoral College, The Texas Tribune polled all Texans in Congress with the question: "With a majority of the Electoral College voting for Biden today, do you accept Joe Biden as the president-elect?" Until the Monday ceremonial vote, many Republicans resisted the idea of a Biden victory.

Then he pivoted, privately warning Republican senators away from disputing the Electoral College tally when Congress convenes in a joint session Jan. 6 to confirm the results. “I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden,” McConnell said as he opened the Senate. Some GOP lawmakers have vowed to carry the fight to Jan. 6 when Congress votes to accept or reject the Electoral College results. One House Republican, Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama, is planning to challenge the Electoral College results when Congress convenes for the joint session. The GOP leaders further warned senators that forcing their colleagues into a vote on Electoral College challenges would prove difficult, especially for those facing their own reelections in 2022.

Democrat Joe Biden won the Nov. 3 election. California’s 55 electoral votes put Biden over the top. Biden won the state by 154,000 votes, or 2.8 percentage points, over Trump. Republicans who would have been Trump electors met anyway in a handful of states Biden won. In North Carolina, Utah and other states across the country where Trump won, his electors turned out to duly cast their ballots for him.

He said Monday’s Electoral College vote “was significant.”Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn said barring further legal challenges it appears Biden will be president. Others have said Trump's legal battles should continue toward resolution by inauguration day, Jan. 20. "Once the Electoral College has voted, most people are going to recognize Joe Biden as the president-elect." "Although I supported President Trump, the Electoral College vote today makes clear that Joe Biden is now President-Elect,” said Sen. Many Republicans are unwilling to declare Biden the winner for the same reasons they avoided standing up to Trump during his presidency.

(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)WASHINGTON – For weeks, President Donald Trump has put America's democratic institutions under unprecedented strain as he fights to hold power despite losing his bid for reelection. On Monday, the Electoral College did its part, formally confirming President-elect Joe Biden's victory over Trump. Anything less than certification of Biden's victory would amount to an unprecedented undermining of a free and fair American election. After both governors certified the Democrat’s victory, Trump cast them as traitors to his cause. Shortly after Biden's Electoral College victory was confirmed, Trump announced that Barr was departing the administration before Christmas.

FINAL TALLY OF ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTES:Democrat Joe Biden: 306Republican Donald Trump: 232___7:55 p.m.President-elect Joe Biden says local election officials and workers endured threats of violence and verbal abuse while ensuring that democracy prevailed in the November election. ___6:30 p.m.Two more top Republican senators are acknowledging that Democrat Joe Biden won the presidential election. And Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt flatly says, “Vice President Biden is the president-elect.”Blunt is a member of the Senate GOP leadership. Both men spoke the day the Electoral College formally awarded Biden the electoral votes needed to become president. Once it does, Democrat Joe Biden will reach his final total of 306 electoral votes.

California’s 55 electoral votes put Biden over the top. A president that lost and lost badly.”On Monday in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — the six battleground states that Biden won and Trump contested — electors gave Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris their votes in low-key proceedings. Biden won the state by 154,000 votes, or 2.8 percentage points, over Trump. Republicans who would have been Trump electors met anyway in a handful of states Biden won. In North Carolina, Utah and other states across the country where Trump won, his electors turned out to duly cast their ballots for him.

That's when the Electoral College meets. Some questions and answers about the Electoral College:WHAT EXACTLY IS THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE? In drafting the Constitution, America's founders struggled with how the new nation should choose its leader and ultimately created the Electoral College system. WHAT'S THE BEEF WITH THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE? The Electoral College has been the subject of criticism for more than two centuries.

That's when the Electoral College meets. Some questions and answers about the Electoral College:WHAT EXACTLY IS THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE? In drafting the Constitution, America's founders struggled with how the new nation should choose its leader and ultimately created the Electoral College system. WHAT'S THE BEEF WITH THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE? The Electoral College has been the subject of criticism for more than two centuries.

This year's presidential race provides the latest motivation for change to supporters of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. It would compel member states to award their electoral votes to the winner of the nationwide popular vote. Under the Electoral College, each state's number of electoral votes equals the size of its congressional delegation. “Nonetheless, National Popular Vote is working to obtain support for the compact in Congress.”After Bush and Trump won the White House despite losing the popular vote, the push to change the system has become more partisan. A national popular vote measure, for example, passed the Republican-controlled New York Senate back then, but didn’t get through the Democrat-controlled Assembly.

HOUSTON, Texas – The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a lawsuit backed by President Donald Trump to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory, ending a desperate attempt to get legal issues rejected by state and federal judges before the nation’s highest court. The four states sued by Texas had urged the court to reject the case as meritless. So I’m having a hard time figuring out the basis for that lawsuit,” Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander told NBC’s Chuck Todd in an interview for “Meet The Press” that will air Sunday. Two days after Paxton filed his suit, Trump jumped into the high court case. Trump had spent the week relentlessly tweeting about the Texas case with the hashtag “overturn” and claiming, falsely, that he had won the election but was robbed.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court court previously refused to hear Trump’s state case before it went through the lower courts. A majority of justices have also openly questioned whether disqualifying the ballots, as Trump wants, would be appropriate. Trump also has a federal lawsuit in Wisconsin where the judge could rule as soon as Friday. Devaney also said Trump “cynically” targeted ballots cast in Wisconsin’s two most urban, non-white counties for disqualification. On Friday evening, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a Texas lawsuit that sought to invalidate Biden's win by throwing out millions of votes in four battleground states, including Wisconsin.

That's when the Electoral College meets. Some questions and answers about the Electoral College:WHAT EXACTLY IS THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE? In drafting the Constitution, America's founders struggled with how the new nation should choose its leader and ultimately created the Electoral College system. With the exception of Maine and Nebraska, states award all of their electoral college votes to the winner of the popular vote in their state. Biden, for his part, won the popular vote and will end up with 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232.

HONOLULU – Hawaii on Tuesday certified the results of its presidential vote after the state Supreme Court dismissed an elections complaint challenging the entirety of the Nov. 3 general election in the islands. President-elect Joe Biden won 63.1% of Hawaii’s vote, compared to President Donald Trump’s 34%, according to the final summary report from the state Office of Elections. The pending court case had held up certification of the presidential vote for more than two weeks. The plaintiffs alleged the state’s non-partisan Office of Elections violated state law when they implemented the state’s new vote-by-mail system this year. Hawaii’s elections are administered by the Office of Elections, a state agency that reports to the bipartisan Hawaii State Elections Commission.

The safe harbor deadline is six days earlier. The attention paid to the normally obscure safe harbor provision is a function of Trump's unrelenting efforts to challenge the legitimacy of the election. Judge Stephen Simanek, appointed to hear the case, has acknowledged that the case would push the state outside the electoral vote safe harbor. The safe harbor provision played a prominent role in the Bush v. Gore case after the 2000 presidential election. The Supreme Court shut down Florida’s state-court-ordered recount because the safe harbor deadline was approaching.

California certified its presidential election Friday and appointed 55 electors pledged to vote for Democrat Joe Biden, officially handing him the Electoral College majority needed to win the White House. There have been no suggestions that any of Biden's pledged electors would contemplate not voting for him. Results of the Electoral College vote are due to be received, and typically approved, by Congress on Jan. 6. Trump has fruitlessly tried to stop those states from certifying Biden as the winner and appointing electors for the former vice president. If they don't, the electors appointed by the states' governors — all pledged to Biden in these cases — must be used.

He filed another one in state court, which the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday refused to hear before it first goes through lower courts. “I have a very, very hard time seeing how this is justiciable in the federal court,” Ludwig, a Trump appointee, said. Bush saying, “Not gonna do it.”In his state lawsuit, Trump is seeking to disqualify 221,000 ballots he claims were cast illegally. Jim Troupis, Trump's attorney in the state lawsuit, argued his case should take precedent over the federal lawsuit, where Troupis is not the attorney. Two others filed by Trump allies — one in federal court and one in state court — remain.

Today is Thursday, Dec. 3, the 338th day of 2020. On Dec. 3, 1828, Andrew Jackson was elected president of the United States by the Electoral College. In 1964, police arrested some 800 students at the University of California at Berkeley, one day after the students stormed the administration building and staged a massive sit-in. In 1833, Oberlin College in Ohio — the first truly coeducational school of higher learning in the United States — began holding classes. Herman Badillo, a Bronx politician who was the first person born in Puerto Rico to become a U.S. congressman, died at age 85.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump still won't bring himself to concede the election he decisively lost to President-elect Joe Biden. “Certainly I will," he said Thursday when asked if he will vacate the premises after electors make Biden's win formal. But there were a few signs that Trump was coming to terms with his loss. “Because we know there was massive fraud.”Electors “will have made a mistake” by affirming Biden's win, he said. Trump said he doesn't “want to talk about 2024 yet.”“This has a long way to go,” Trump said, even though he lost.

States have begun certifying their results from the Nov. 3 presidential election in the run-up to the Electoral College meeting in mid-December. Both states and their 16 electoral votes went to Biden. A total of 16 states have so far certified their results, awarding President-elect Joe Biden 54 of his 306 Electoral College votes and Trump 73 of his 232 votes. All states must certify before the Electoral College meets on Dec. 14, and any challenge to the results must be resolved by Dec. 8. Biden won by wide margins in both the Electoral College and popular vote, where he received nearly 80 million votes, a record.

The delay has the potential to upend civic norms, impede Biden’s transition to the White House and sow doubt in the nation’s civic and election systems. Trump would need to produce ample evidence of impropriety to undo Biden’s lead, which appears unlikely. During a closed-door lunch, Vice President Mike Pence told Senate Republicans about the legal strategy. Trump and his GOP allies haven’t offered evidence of election fraud, and their legal challenges have largely been rejected by the courts. McConnell noted the potential turmoil during the transition in praising ousted Defense Secretary Mark Esper, whom Trump fired on Monday.

Really, the question boils down to when will a Democrat win a statewide election in Texas. There are currently 538 Electoral College votes - broken down it’s 435 U.S. Texas has 38 Electoral College votes, the second-most of any state. Texas, like the vast majority of states, is considered a winner-take-all state when it comes to Electoral College votes. “For the Republicans, this has been possible because they could rely on Texas’s 38 Electoral College votes.

Here, Colleen Long, a national reporter in the Washington bureau of The Associated Press who is leading coverage of the legal challenges, breaks down how these lawsuits could affect the presidential election. In Pennsylvania and Michigan, the campaign wanted to temporarily halt vote counting until Republicans got more oversight of the tally. Election law experts and state election officials have overwhelmingly said there has been no sign of widespread or even sporadic voter fraud. Bush v. Gore in 2000 was a good example of how litigation can affect the outcome of an election. ___PREVIOUS AP STORIES ON THE 2020 ELECTION AND LEGAL CHALLENGES:— Taking a stand has new meaning in heavily litigated election— Just over a week before the US election, lawsuits linger

WHAT BIDEN SAIDBiden also addressed his supporters in the middle of the night, pleading for their patience while the votes are counted. “It ain’t over until every vote is counted, every ballot is counted,” Biden said. LEGAL CHALLENGESThe Trump campaign says it has filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania and Michigan, demanding better access for campaign observers to locations where ballots are being processed and counted. Trump, meanwhile, won overwhelming support from white and rural supporters to turn out voters in the places that powered his victory four years ago. In some competitive states, like Nevada and Florida, Trump ate away at Biden’s support among Latinos.

A full day after Election Day, neither candidate had cleared the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House. Trump’s campaign requested a recount, though statewide recounts in Wisconsin have historically changed the vote tally by only a few hundred votes. After the victories in Wisconsin and Michigan, he was just six Electoral College votes away from the presidency. Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said the president would formally request a Wisconsin recount, citing “irregularities" in several counties. The Trump campaign on Wednesday pushed Republican donors to dig deeper into their pockets to help finance legal challenges.

IS THERE A DEADLINE BY WHICH THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE MUST OFFICIALLY HAVE ALL ITS VOTES IN? Election Day is only one point in the process of the Electoral College, which decides who wins a U.S. presidential race. After the polls close, states begin to count and certify popular vote results according to their respective rules. Electoral College electors in each state don’t vote until Dec. 14. Certificates recording the electoral vote results in each state must be received by the president of the Senate and the archivist no later than Dec. 23.

Vote tabulations routinely continue beyond Election Day, and states largely set the rules for when the count has to end. Several states allow mailed-in votes to be accepted after Election Day, as long as they were postmarked by Tuesday. Democrats typically outperform Republicans in mail voting, while the GOP looks to make up ground in Election Day turnout. Trump kept several states, including Texas, Iowa and Ohio, where Biden had made a strong play in the final stages of the campaign. The momentum from early voting carried into Election Day, as an energized electorate produced long lines at polling sites throughout the country.

“I wasn't aware of that,” Shirl Mora James, a leader in the Nebraska Democratic Party, said with a sigh. Maine’s sprawling 2nd District is among the nation’s largest and most rural, made up of small farms, coastal communities and vast stretches of forest. The Nebraska district also dips south to older suburbs near Offutt Air Force Base. Polling indicates Biden has a slight lead in the Nebraska district despite trailing badly statewide. And the road to victory runs right through northern Maine,” Pence told a gathering in Hermon, in the 2nd District.

All rights reserved)Greenville, N.C. – (Update: The event is over. President Donald Trump is headed to another battleground state on Thursday for a campaign rally. Trump will be in Greenville, North Carolina, for a “Make America Great Again” event. The rally is scheduled to begin at noon, but delays are possible. Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden will compete for TV audiences in dueling town halls Thursday night instead of meeting face-to-face for their second debate as originally planned.

(Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)JOHNSTOWN, Pennsylvania – With Election Day just three weeks away, President Donald Trump concentrated Tuesday on a battleground state seen as critical to clinching an Electoral College victory. Trump is staging an evening rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Joe Biden’s native state. Trump wants to hammer home the claim that a Democratic administration could limit fracking in areas where the economy is heavily dependent on energy. The event is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. but there could be delays.

Have you ever wondered why is it that one candidate can win the popular vote but another wins the electoral vote, and thus, the presidency? Four candidates in history have won a majority of the popular vote only to be denied the presidency by the Electoral College. That includes Hillary Clinton, who had the largest popular vote margin of any losing presidential candidate in U.S. history. Graphic shows scenario in which a presidential candidate can win the popular vote but lose the election. It would take a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College -- an unlikely move because of how difficult it is to pass and ratify constitutional changes.

But what happens if a candidate for president dies before Election Day? Instead, they are voting for slates of electors who will pick the president and vice president as members of the Electoral College. In modern U.S. elections, the meeting of the Electoral College is essentially a ceremonial confirmation of the choice made by voters. If no candidate reaches 270 electoral votes, the House chooses the president and the Senate chooses the vice president, in a process spelled out in the Constitution. In 1824, Andrew Jackson won a a plurality of the popular vote and the most Electoral College votes.

“We cannot leave anything to chance,” Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues, emphasizing the importance of winning House seats for Democrats — not just to expand their majority but to prepare for the possibility that the House must settle the presidential race. But if the Electoral College is deadlocked or unable to reach a majority outcome, the question goes to the House as a “contingent election." Each state’s congressional delegation, consisting of the newly elected House lawmakers, casts one vote to determine the presidential outcome, according to the House history website. But as of now, Pelosi explained, Republicans have a “razor thin” margin — 26 of the state delegations, compared with 22 for Democrats. “We must achieve that majority of delegations or keep the Republicans from doing so,” Pelosi wrote.

WASHINGTON – WHY IS IT THAT ONE CANDIDATE CAN WIN THE POPULAR VOTE BUT ANOTHER WINS THE ELECTORAL VOTE AND THUS THE PRESIDENCY? Four candidates in history have won the popular vote only to be denied the presidency by the Electoral College. The Electoral College was devised at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. But there’s a separate movement that calls for a compact of states to allocate all their electoral votes to the national popular vote winner, regardless of how those individual states opted in an election. —-This new series from the AP is dedicated to answering commonly asked questions from our audience about the 2020 U.S. presidential election.