President-elect Joe Biden on Monday officially surpassed the 270 electoral votes needed to formally secure his presidential victory as electors met to cast their votes.
The president-elect cleared the threshold when California electors awarded Biden the state’s 55 votes, according to a tally by the Associated Press.
Electors met in all 50 states to cast paper ballots on Monday, the day set by law for the meeting of the Electoral College. The results of the vote will be sent to Washington and counted in a January 6 meeting of the Senate and the House, over which Vice President Mike Pence will preside.
According to projections by the Associated Press, Biden is expected to receive 306 electoral votes to President Trump’s 232.
Meetings of electors in number of states, including battleground states where Biden won, were subject to heightened security over concerns for the safety of the electors.
Biden is expected to address the nation on Monday after he is formally declared the winner of the election.
“In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed,” he will say, according to prepared remarks. “We the people voted. Faith in our institutions held. The integrity of our elections remains intact. And so, now it is time to turn the page. To unite. To heal.”