Electoral College: Biden affirmed president-elect as California electors push him over 270 votes

Here’s the running schedule for C-SPAN, which will be focusing much of today on the Electoral College:

10am ET: Indiana

11:30am ET: Delaware

12pm ET: Pennsylvania

2pm ET: Michigan

3pm ET: Texas

Good morning! With the Electoral College set to begin meetings in less than an hour in states across the country, here’s more information on the timeline for today’s events:

As the president STILL refuses to face the inevitable - will today be the day he finally concedes? - his feud with his attorney general seems pretty irreparable.

Gino Spocchia has the latest.

As concerns grow over the prospect of unrest today, Michigan is closing its legislative buildings in response to “credible" security threats. 

The scene of “Operation Gridlock” protests by armed right-wing militia and a foiled kidnap plot targeting Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer earlier this year, the state is no doubt right to be cautious.

James Crump has everything you need to know on today’s events.

Even if today’s vote runs smoothly, Trump’s efforts to undermine this year’s democratic presidential election  - including encouraging state legislatures to appoint their own sets of "dueling" electors - have exposed the potential flaws in the system, according to Robert Alexander, professor at Ohio Northern University, author of a book on the subject.

"There are a lot of landmines in the Electoral College and this election really revealed a lot of them," he says.

What price “faithless” defections today?

“We might have a few,” Princeton history professor Julian Zelizer tells The Hill. “Given the kind of claims the president has thrown out there and the blind loyalty of the party, this can happen. But as we have seen, most of the political world has not responded to the president by following his lead.”

Professor Zelizer also dismisses the president’s allies’ attempts to liken the current situation to Florida in 2000: “The difference is there was a serious problem. In this case, there was not. The president and the GOP are manufacturing this.”

Also discussing Monday’s ballot, Wisconsin elector Ben Wikler tells the same outlet of his disquiet over the post-election tensions whipped up by the president and concludes: “The lesson for all of us is to never take our democracy for granted again.”

Fellow elector Van Johnson of Georgia, also the mayor of Savannah, shares Wikler’s concern that today’s milestone could spark further unrest like that seen in DC over the weekend when the Proud Boys took to the streets.

“I’m anxious because there are people out there who are crazy,” he says. “The safety of everyone has to be considered and kept in the forefront of our minds as we take on this process.”

This is mighty interesting - seems like Trump, Scalise and Brooks have been wrongly taking the public’s will for this fight for granted.

House minority whip and GOP congressman for Louisiana Steve Scalise has said not even the Electoral College ballot will convince him that the Democrat won last month’s election, earning the disdain of Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday yesterday.

“Let’s let this legal process play itself out,” Scalise said, apparently undaunted by advocating the casting aside of millions of votes fairly cast by American citizens.

Another congressman, Alabama’s Mo Brooks, has also vowed to file challenges when Congress reviews the vote on 6 January, even though it is all but certain that both chambers would reject such an effort.

Brooks maintains “Congress has a superior role under the 12th Amendment to the Constitution than the Supreme Court”, siding with the president all the way to the bitter end.

While the electoral votes normally involve some pomp and circumstance, most events this year will be significantly scaled back due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In Michigan, for instance, the 16 electors are allowed to bring only a single guest; Arizona has shifted its ceremony from the capitol building to an unassuming government facility and pared down the list of invitees. At least one state, Nevada, intends to hold its electoral vote entirely virtually.

The process of choosing electors varies by state. In some, state parties pick electors at local or state conventions, while in others, the party leadership chooses the slate. In Pennsylvania, the presidential candidates themselves pick their electors, while in California, Democratic congressional nominees select them.

While a few electors like the aforementioned Abrams and Noem may be well known political figures, most are longtime state party devotees, such as Bonnie Lauria, a retired General Motors worker in West Branch, Michigan.

"I've held most offices, from the local level up to state central," the 79-year-old said. "This is one I haven't had the privilege of being part of. I'm glad it's my turn."

Another Michigan Democratic elector, Blake Mazurek, a 52-year-old history teacher, said he hopes the vote sends a message that the democratic system is still functioning despite Trump's rhetoric.

"I hope there's a sense of assurance to many in America that our country is not entirely broken," he said.

The president-elect - you remember him, the old guy with the white teeth who actually won - will give a speech from Wilmington, Delaware, this evening after he and Kamala Harris have had their victory certified.