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President-Elect Joe Biden Clinches Presidency—Again—as Pennsylvania Certifies Election Results

 

Then-candidate Joe Biden gestures during a campaign stop outside Johnstown Train Station September 30, 2020 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

President-elect Joe Biden won Pennsylvania again on Tuesday, allowing him to relive the moment a little more than two weeks ago when he first won the Keystone State, pushing him over the threshold of electors that rendered outgoing President Donald Trump the decisive loser.

“As required by federal law, I’ve signed the Certificate of Ascertainment for the slate of electors for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor Tom Wolf tweeted.

“Again, I want to thank the election officials who have administered a fair and free election during an incredibly challenging time in our commonwealth and country’s history,” Wolf added. “Our election workers have been under constant attack and they have performed admirably and honorably.”

The final numbers certified by Pennsylvania’s Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar (D) gave the incoming administration of Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris a 80,555-vote victory, broken down into 3,458,229 for their campaign and 3,377,674 for Trump and exiting vice president Mike Pence.

“We are tremendously grateful to all 67 counties who have been working extremely long hours to ensure that every qualified voter’s vote is counted safely and securely,” Boockvar said in a statement. “The county election officials and the poll workers are the true heroes of our democracy, enabling us to vote in record numbers, amid challenging circumstances, so that every eligible voter’s voice could be heard.”

The Trump campaign has not yet abandoned their lost cause, placing their quixotic hopes on the rapidly dying cascade of last-gasp lawsuits meant to overturn the results of free and fair elections in states across the country.

In Pennsylvania, U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann ridiculed and tossed out their “Frankenstein’s Monster” legal theories and rapidly changing allegations as a desperate attempt to disenfranchise some 7 million people.

“One might expect that when seeking such a startling outcome, a plaintiff would come formidably armed with compelling legal arguments and factual proof of rampant corruption, such that this Court would have no option but to regrettably grant the proposed injunctive relief despite the impact it would have on such a large group of citizens,” Brann, a former Republican power broker in Pennsylvania turned Barack Obama-appointed jurist, wrote in a scathing opinion on Saturday. “That has not happened.”

With every loss, the Trump campaign insists victory is just around the corner, and it has the backing of all but a handful of Senate Republicans in their earnest efforts to invalidate a lawful election it lost by more than 6 million votes.

[Image via Alex Wong/Getty Images]

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Law&Crime's managing editor Adam Klasfeld has spent more than a decade on the legal beat. Previously a reporter for Courthouse News, he has appeared as a guest on NewsNation, NBC, MSNBC, CBS's "Inside Edition," BBC, NPR, PBS, Sky News, and other networks. His reporting on the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell was featured on the Starz and Channel 4 documentary "Who Is Ghislaine Maxwell?" He is the host of Law&Crime podcast "Objections: with Adam Klasfeld."