Important formality: Change of power is getting closer: US voters seal Trump’s victory

The vote of the electors in the USA has been completed – and President-elect Donald Trump has moved 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.

Trump clearly won the election in November. Not only did he triumph in all of the key “swing states,” but he was also the first Republican since George W. Bush in 2004 to win the absolute majority of the votes cast nationwide (“Popular Vote”).

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.

Inauguration in January

The electoral votes, including their signature, will be sent to 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.