Arizona presidential electors officially cast state’s 11 votes for Joe Biden

PHOENIX – Arizona’s electors formally cast their 11 votes Monday for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the next president and vice president of the United States.

The certification was livestreamed on social media by Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ office.

The Certificate of Vote for President and Vice President was sent immediately to Washington and will be tallied in a Jan. 6 joint session of Congress, presided over by Vice President Mike Pence, who is president of the Senate.

“The people of Arizona selected Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris and the electors will cast their votes accordingly, by signing the Certificate of Vote,” Hobbs said.

“It is patently un-American and unacceptable that today’s event should be anything less than an honored tradition, held with pride and in celebration,” she said.

The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office will keep copies; other copies will go to the National Archives and Records Administration and the chief judge of the United States District Court for Arizona.

The electors met in Phoenix at an undisclosed location for security reasons. The Electoral College normally meets at the Capitol, where dozens of Trump supporters showed up for the 10 a.m. gathering.

Electors were meeting in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to cast their ballots Monday.

The electors’ votes have drawn more attention than usual this year because President Donald Trump has refused to concede the election and continued to make allegations of fraud.

“This is just the rarest of rare air,” political consultant Stan Barnes of Phoenix told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Sunday.

A state Senate panel also was holding a hearing on the election Monday, although it can do nothing to reverse the Electoral College delegates’ votes.

Biden won 306 electoral votes to 232 votes for Trump. It takes 270 votes to be elected.

The inauguration will be held Jan. 20 in the nation’s capital.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jim Cross and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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