Pennsylvania certifies election; Biden wins by 80K votes

President-elect Joe Biden has been certified the winner of Pennsylvania’s Nov. 3 election.

Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar and Gov. Tom Wolf signed and certified the election results Tuesday morning, a day after all 67 counties certified their respective results.

The certification ends a three-week process and awards the state’s 20 electoral votes to Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Biden won the battleground state by 80,555 votes: 3,458,229 to Donald Trump’s 3,377,674. Libertarian Party candidate Jo Jorgensen received 79,380 votes.

“This is exactly how the process should happen — the people vote, those votes are counted, and the electors chosen reflect the will of the people,” state Attorney General Josh Shapiro said.

Biden’s campaign released a statement after the certification.

“It’s readily apparent to everyone besides Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis that this election is over and that Joe Biden won resoundingly,” senior adviser Bob Bauer said. “Trump’s lawsuits will continue to fail, as they have in over 30 cases since Election Day; states will continue to certify their results; and Joe Biden will be sworn in as President on Jan. 20, 2021.”

Boockvar thanked poll workers and county election officials for their weeks of work.

“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,” she said in a statement.

Wolf offered a similar sentiment.

“Today’s certification is a testament to the incredible efforts of our local and state election officials, who worked tirelessly to ensure Pennsylvania had a free, fair and accurate process that reflects the will of the voters,” he said.

The official documents are known as Certificates of Ascertainment, and they are sent to the U.S. Archives bearing the state’s seal.

The Electoral College meets the Monday after the second Wednesday in December as indicated by federal law, at which point each states’ electors meet and cast their votes. Six days before that, however, is what’s known as “safe harbor” day. Federal law says that states that have certified their elections and thus their electors by Dec. 8 cannot have them challenged by Congress.

Pennsylvania law dictates that the county Board of Election must certify results by the third Monday after the election.

In Allegheny County, the Board of Elections certified the county’s results, except for about 3,307 ballots that, as of Monday morning, were still subject to pending litigation. The state Supreme Court later that day ruled that approximately 2,300 mail-in ballots that voters did not date on the outer envelope met the qualifications laid out in the state Election Code and could be counted.

The county Board of Elections will meet Wednesday afternoon to certify those ballots, which will be added to the county’s total.