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martyb [soylentnews.org] writes:

Though the popular vote for the next President of the United States of America was held in early November, today is the day the next President is actually selected.

The popular vote of the people is actually to select electors whose votes are what actually select the next President.

From the live update page Electoral College votes to affirm Biden's win [cnn.com]:

• The 538 electors who make up the Electoral College are gathering today [cnn.com] in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to formally cast their votes for president.
• This is a procedural step that typically goes unnoticed. But it has taken on outsize importance this year as President Trump continues to attack [cnn.com] the election results.
• Today's electoral votes will confirm [cnn.com] Joe Biden as the rightful 46th president and California Sen. Kamala Harris as vice president.

As of this writing, (2020-12-14 21:58:34 UTC) Montana just cast its 3 electoral votes for Donald Trump. As things now stand, Joe Biden has 240 votes versus 232 for Donald Trump; 270 electoral college votes are required to win the election.

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