Michigan’s electors have cast their 16 votes for President-elect Joe Biden, who reclaimed the battleground state for Democrats on his way to winning the White House.
The vote was announced by Democratic Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, who presided over a scaled-back, socially distanced Electoral College ceremony inside the Michigan Senate.
The Capitol was closed to the public because of coronavirus restrictions. Lawmakers also closed their offices because of threats of violence. Electors and some top Democrats were escorted into the statehouse by state police.
Citing baseless allegations of widespread fraud, President Donald Trump and his allies had urged the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate Biden’s 154,000 vote, or 2.8 percentage point, victory and pushed the Republican-led Legislature to choose electors. But the legally suspect, long-shot bid was rejected by the court and by Republican legislative leaders who pointed to state law in saying that the electoral votes go to the popular vote winner.
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says, “The people have spoken.”