Pennsylvania’s top elections official certified the state’s presidential election results today, officially declaring Joe Biden the winner and paving the way for him to receive the state’s 20 Electoral College votes next month.
Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar made the final vote counts official, three weeks after the Nov. 3 election: Biden received 3,458,229 votes, 80,555 more than President Donald Trump’s 3,377,674 votes.
Gov. Tom Wolf then signed the Certificate of Ascertainment to name the 20 Biden electors who will meet in Harrisburg on Dec. 14.
“Today’s certification is a testament to the incredible efforts of our local and state election officials, who worked tirelessly to ensure Pennsylvania had a free, fair and accurate process that reflects the will of the voters,” Wolf said in a statement.
The vote certification is a procedural step that normally goes unnoticed by the general public; by the time the final votes are made official, the winner has been known for weeks.
JimHeath.TV made the call for Biden the day following the election.
The Associated Press and other news organizations called Pennsylvania for Biden on Saturday, Nov. 7.
That made it clear Biden would win a majority in the Electoral College, making him the president-elect.
Still, race calls from news organizations — and declarations of victory or concessions from candidates — are unofficial. It’s a matter of norms that candidates and the public accept the unofficial results long before they are certified.