Congress will certify Donald Trump’s win on Jan. 6, here’s how the process works

Congress will convene for a joint session Monday to make President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 win official by fulfilling its constitutional role of certifying the Electoral College vote.

The ordinarily mundane affair, which is typically a mere formality, had emerged as a major flashpoint four years ago when a mob of rioters ransacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in a furious rampage over Trump’s election loss.

This time around, the ceremony is expected to be a far less dramatic ordeal, though a snowstorm in the Washington, DC area may hamper attendance.

Vice President Kamala Harris will have the unpleasant task of presiding over the certification of her defeat — something former Vice President Al Gore had to do 25 years ago.

Certification of the election results is a multi-pronged process. Here is how it will work.

How does the 2024 Electoral College certification work?

The 2024 presidential election took place on Nov. 5, 2024. Trump was quickly projected as the winner by various media outlets, but technically various states still had to take additional steps to certify the results in their respective state. They had a Dec. 11, 2024 “Safe Harbor Day” deadline to finish off the election ascertainment.

Then, on Dec. 17, 2024, members of the Electoral College, a body comprised of 538 that decide the presidential winner, cast their votes on the election on a state-by-state basis.

Next, in keeping with the Electoral Count Act, both chambers of Congress must meet on January 6 to formally count the Electoral College vote. This takes place during a joint session of Congress in which the two chambers converge in the House chamber.

During that joint session, the Congress opens sealed certifications from each state, detailing the electoral votes. Congress has fancy mahogany boxes used to transport the votes.

Both chambers each appoint two tellers — generally from each party — to read the certificates out loud. The presiding officer opens the certificates and helps disburse them to the tellers.

The tellers then announce the certificates from each state in alphabetical order, stating whether they appear to be “authentic” and announce the results.

Can members of Congress object?

While each state result is read aloud, members can attempt to raise objections, but in order to be considered, those lawmakers need to have the objection in writing and garner signatures from one-fifth of each chamber.

Previously, the threshold had been set at one lawmaker per chamber, but that number got bumped up in the aftermath of the tumultuous Jan. 6, 2021 certification process.

Should an objection attain the threshold, the joint session gets suspended and Congress breaks into two different sessions per chamber to consider the claim. Each chamber must agree to the objection by a majority vote in order to sustain it.

Heading into the electoral certification process, no lawmaker is expected to raise an objection that will meet the necessary one-fifth threshold.

Last go around, both chambers spurned objections raised towards Arizona and Pennsylvania. When objections get rejected, the electoral votes get counted without modifications.

How does it conclude?

After each state has been read by the tellers, Harris will then give the final totals of the Electoral College vote, which will make it clear whether any electors deviated from how they were supposed to vote. Various states have rules intended to minimize deviations by electors.

Once that is finished, the vice president will conclude the joint session. Eight years ago, the process took just over half an hour to complete, though the duration varies based on the circumstances.

What was Trump’s plan on Jan. 6, 2021?

In the run-up to Jan. 6, 2021, allies of Trump concocted a cockamamy plan to reverse his election loss by pressing states to furnish an alternative slate of electors. From there, they intended to have Vice President Mike Pence “decertify” or turn back the electors.

The theory was that doing so could’ve potentially lowered the margin needed to win from 270.

But Democrats almost certainly would’ve objected, which would’ve kicked it to a special House vote in which the state delegations decide.

State delegations are decided by the party with the most number of congressional seats in that state. Republicans held the majority of state delegations to Congress at the time.

Ultimately, Pence declined to “decertify” the election results, which he and many other scholars, dubbed an unconstitutional maneuver. Since then, Congress has passed the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022 to tighten those rules.

What changed from last time?

Under the changes enacted in 2022, federal law now clarifies that the vice president cannot determine the results of the January 6 certification process.

There were also a series of minor adjustments in law to clarify how a candidate could contest the election results in court as well as other reforms aimed at squelching potential loopholes in general.

Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security has designated Monday a “National Special Security Event” meaning that the feds will have more resources at the ready so that an unexpected turn of events won’t catch them flatfooted this time.

Once the certification is done, Trump will be just two weeks away from getting sworn in as president. That is when the real transfer of power takes place and he officially gets sworn into office.

Members of the new, 119th Congress were sworn in last Friday, giving Republicans control of the Senate in addition to the House.