Biden Officially Secures Over 270 Electoral Votes, Confirming Election Win (Update)

California Officially Certifies Biden's Victory... Adds 55 Electors for a Total of 279

President-elect Joe Biden of the United States (Wilmington AP=Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] In the U.S. presidential election, Democratic candidate Joe Biden has officially secured more than 270 electoral votes, confirming his victory.

Foreign media including the Associated Press (AP) reported on the 4th (local time) that Alex Padilla, Secretary of State of California, officially certified Biden's victory that day. California certified Biden's presidential win and selected 55 electors on the same day.

With this, Biden has 'officially' secured the majority of the electoral votes required to win the presidency. According to AP's tally, including California's 55 electoral votes, Biden has secured a total of 279 electoral votes, surpassing the 270 votes needed to win. California has the largest number of electoral votes among the 50 U.S. states.

Typically, the winner of the U.S. presidential election is decided immediately after Election Day, so state certification of the winner and confirmation of electors are considered formal procedures. However, in this year's election, President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede the results has made state certification and elector confirmation a focal point.

With California officially certifying Biden's victory, only three states?Colorado, Hawaii, and New Jersey?remain among the states Biden won. If Biden secures the electors from these three states as well, he will officially have 306 electoral votes, while President Trump will have 232.

The electors selected by each state will cast their official votes for president on the 14th. The results of these state-level votes will be approved and announced by Congress on January 6 of next year.

The AP reported that President Trump has filed at least 50 lawsuits challenging the election results, mainly in battleground states such as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, but over 30 of these cases have been dismissed or lost so far.