Getty ImagesUS lawmakers will gather on Monday for a joint session of Congress to certify Donald Trump’s presidential election win – a procedure that happens every four years after the vote and two weeks before the president’s inauguration.
Last time, the routine went awry when a group of Trump’s supporters rioted at the Capitol to try to stop the formal vote-counting and overturn his defeat in the 2020 election.
This year’s certification will bring Trump a step closer to returning to the White House, after the Republican won the 2024 contest against Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris.
Because of her role as leader of the Senate, Harris will oversee the certification.
What happens during the certification?
Federal law states that Congress must gather on 6 January to certify the election results.
Members open sealed certificates from America’s 50 states, each of which contains a record of that state’s electoral votes.
The results are read out loud and an official count is tallied.
The president of the Senate – currently Harris – presides over the joint session of Congress. She will formally declare the winner of the presidential election.
What happened last time?
Routine turned to violence on 6 January 2021: the last time a joint session of Congress was held to certify election results.
After Trump made unfounded assertions that the 2020 election was stolen from him, hundreds of rioters smashed through barricades to try to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s win.
Trump urged Mike Pence, who was then vice-president, to have “courage” and allow states to “correct their votes”.
After the mob filled – and then emptied – the halls of the US Capitol building, members of Congress returned and certified the election, and Pence rejected Trump’s request. Several deaths were blamed on the day’s violence.
In the years since, Trump and many of his supporters have maintained his baseless claims about the 2020 election. He has vowed to pardon some of those convicted of offences over the riot when he returns to the presidency.
What’s likely to happen this year?
While there is some lingering anxiety in Washington DC, this year’s certification is expected to go off without a hitch, and Harris has not disputed the results.
This will not be the first time that a defeated election candidate has had to oversee the certification process.
In 2021, Pence oversaw the certification of the Biden-Harris victory, and in 2001, then-Vice-President Al Gore oversaw the certification of President George W Bush.
Could a Congress member object to the results?
Short answer: yes. But it does not happen very often.
Members of Congress are allowed to object after a state’s certificate is read out. But in order for the presiding officer to hear the objection, it needs to be in writing and signed by one-fifth of the members of the House (the lower chamber) and one-fifth of the Senate (the upper chamber). Previously, an objection only needed to be raised by one member from each chamber.
The new policy came about in 2022, in an attempt to make objections more difficult. If an objection does meet the new requirements, the joint session would be suspended for the House and Senate to consider the objection separately. Both chambers would have to reach a majority vote for the objection to be sustained.
Challenges to electoral votes in Arizona and Pennsylvania were rejected by both the House and the Senate in 2021.
What happens next?
Once the certification is complete, there is only one step left in the process before Trump is officially president again: the inauguration.
On 20 January, the Trump family, former presidents and members of the public will gather on the west front of the Capitol for the official swearing in of the 47th president.
