Washington — Congress will convene on January 6 to certify President-elect Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 election. This event is markedly less dramatic than four years ago when a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to nullify President Biden's win. This time, Democratic lawmakers appear inclined to facilitate the process without objections (CBS News).

The joint session will see Vice President Kamala Harris presiding over the counting of electoral votes, fulfilling her constitutional duty in overseeing the formal count of votes from each state and the District of Columbia. Trump secured the presidency with a decisive electoral margin of 312 to 226 against Harris.

Typically, the congressional session is a ceremonial process, but new regulations have been implemented following the upheaval of January 6, 2021, to ensure the integrity and smoothness of electoral certification. The Electoral Count Reform Act, passed in 2022, clarifies the vice president's role as purely ceremonial and increases the threshold for lawmakers to challenge electoral votes from one member in each chamber to 20% of members (Time).

The process begins with Congress opening sealed certificates from all states containing electoral vote tallies. Representatives and senators will announce these votes before tallying them as part of the official count. The importance of adhering to the procedure is underscored by the fact that the joint session is the last chance for any formal objections before the inauguration, which is scheduled for January 20.

Unlike the tumultuous events of January 6, 2021, where objections were raised to ballots from Arizona and Pennsylvania, the new law requires a substantial consensus for any objection to be heard. In the absence of a revolt, the session is anticipated to proceed smoothly, reaffirming Trump's victory as he prepares to take office again.

This procedure echoes past congressional practices, notably when Al Gore presided over the counting that led to George W. Bush's election in 2001, further highlighting the often ceremonial but critical nature of this constitutional obligation.

As members of Congress prepare for the electoral vote count, the 2022 amendments place a significant emphasis on preventing any future attempts to challenge the certified results on thin evidence, reflecting a bipartisan consensus to protect the electoral process and uphold democratic integrity (Los Angeles Times).