On December 14, the US Electoral College convened to cast their vote in what has been called a mere formality after the popular vote has already confirmed Joe Biden as the winner. While it may usually be a formality, this time, the Electoral College vote is coming as a final follow-up act to the 'unsusal' election that came before it. The vote will likely be the final nail in the coffin for Trump's attempts to reverse election results. A loss in the Electoral College is, as Trump and the Republicans put it, final and one that they will respect. Obviously, nothing is stopping Trump from continuing his assertions of a stolen election but he is unlikely to gain much support from most of his Party at that stage.
Of course, given the unique power of the Electoral College in deciding the next US President, this is also Trump's last attempt to mount a comeback. While state legislators typically cast their vote in keeping with the popular vote of the state, they may choose to reject the popular consensus of their state and vote otherwise. It must be noted that this is beyond uncommon as it directly implies refuting the value of the popular vote, something Trump allies have been careful about. That said, Trump has made very public attempts in the last few weeks to get key swing states controlled by Republicans to cast an electoral vote for him, in contradiction to the popular vote. There have indeed been two examples in recent decades of US Presidents who came to power by securing the Electoral College votes but losing out on the popular vote. This is precisely how Donald Trump came to power by beating Hillary Trump who led him by more than three million votes. This is precisely why many see the Electoral College as an antiquated system that does more harm now than good. Not only does it create ways for the popular vote to be subverted, but it also incentivises candidates to concrete their campaigning efforts in key swing states like Florida that hold a significant portion of the Electoral College votes. Supporters of the continuing use of the Electoral College system say that it solidifies the role of the states in the Presidental Election, in keeping with the true principles of federalism.
While the battle to end or change the Electoral College may not end any time soon, Joe Biden and indeed, America has much bigger concerns in the short run related to this election. In a recent interview, Antonio Mugica, chief executive of Florida-based Smartmatic stated that Trump's attacks on the reliability of voting systems in America has widespread consequences for the future of electronic voting. He called his industry "collateral damage" in a wider series of attacks on democratic elections. This is the crux of the problem that will face America in the near future. To win popular support for his bid to keep in power, Trump risks permanently undermining the integrity of the election process in the United States. Despite the factually-light nature of Trump's arguments relating to the 'stolen' election, several polls in recent weeks have shown that a significant portion of Republicans actually believes in the stolen election narrative. A recent Texas led lawsuit looking to invalidate millions of votes cast in key swing states had the support of 17 Republican-run states in its bid to use the conservative Supreme Court. Though the lawsuit was shut down forcefully by the SC like many others, there is a significant cause for concern. While America does have a long history of petty power transfers going back centuries, power transfers still end up happening as they should. The worst-case scenario here is America having two Presidents propped up by two sides that do not agree to the legality of the other side. At that point, there is no precedent to exactly dictate procedure but the spectre of a 'civil war', no matter how small, remains. Thus, while Trump's attempts to subvert the election may fail, his attempts are creating even wider divides in a land already divided by partisan struggle, a permanent cost of embracing 'Trumpian' politics.