The 538 electoral college representatives prepared to cast their votes on Monday, despite departing President Donald Trump's continued refusal to concede to president-elect Joe Biden.
The vote represents an official landmark in upholding the November 3 election result and the penultimate step in finalising Mr Biden's victory against Mr Trump by 306-232 electoral college votes.
While more than 155 million Americans voted in the 2020 election, it is the meetings of electoral college representatives from the 50 US states and the District of Columbia that select the president and the vice president.
The process, which dates from the 19th century, mandates that those electors meet in their state capitols and formally vote for the country's leaders.
There is nothing in the US Constitution that requires these electors to vote for the winner of the election.
But not doing so is rare, and would subject an elector to a fine and render his or her status as "faithless", under a law held by the Supreme Court.
Most of the electors will be at their local state houses, with the exception of Nevada, Utah and Colorado.
Their representatives will break a 200-year tradition and meet online because of the pandemic.
After the vote, the ballots will be shipped by the US Postal Service to Washington, where they must arrive at Congress no later than December 23.
There they will be counted by the Senate in a special session presided over by departing Vice President Mike Pence on January 6.
That represents the last step before the inauguration of Mr Biden on January 20.
While Mr Trump can cause delays and objections through House members on January 6, he will officially run out of options to dispute the election after Monday’s vote.
He lost two legal bids at the Supreme Court and 59 at local courts.
Mr Trump said that he would leave the White House if the electoral college representatives did not declare a winner on Monday. "Certainly I will, and you know that," he said on November 27.
But he may never concede and it is unclear if he will attend Mr Biden's inauguration. He pledged more legal battles.
“No, it's not over. We keep going and we're going to continue to go forward. We have numerous local cases,” he told Fox News.
Mr Trump evaded the question of whether he would attend the inauguration.
"I don't want to talk about that," he said.
Mr Trump's supporters clashed with anti-Trump groups in Washington DC at the weekend.
At least four people were stabbed at night time in the downtown area and more than 23 were arrested.
The city police department said two of its officers were injured in the clashes on Saturday.
It said it charged 10 people with offences including assaulting police officers and rioting.
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The biog
From: Ras Al Khaimah
Age: 50
Profession: Electronic engineer, worked with Etisalat for the past 20 years
Hobbies: 'Anything that involves exploration, hunting, fishing, mountaineering, the sea, hiking, scuba diving, and adventure sports'
Favourite quote: 'Life is so simple, enjoy it'
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE%20HOLDOVERS
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Racecard
5pm: Al Maha Stables – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m
6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
6.30pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
7pm: The President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m
7.30pm: The President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Biog
Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara
He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada
Father of two sons, grandfather of six
Plays golf once a week
Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family
Walks for an hour every morning
Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India
2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
