US President-elect Joe Biden speaks during a cabinet announcement event in Wilmington, Delaware, on November 24, 2020. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP)
Pennsylvania officially certified Democrat Joe Biden鈥檚 election victory in the state over Donald Trump on Tuesday, a day after the president agreed to a transition but stopped short of conceding.
Governor Tom Wolf tweeted that the Pennsylvania Department of State had 鈥渃ertified鈥� the results of the November 3 vote, after Michigan did the same on Monday, in the latest setback to Trump鈥檚 attempts to overturn his defeat.
鈥淎s required by federal law, I鈥檝e signed the Certificate of Ascertainment for the slate of electors for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,鈥� Wolf wrote, referring to Pennsylvania鈥檚 20 electoral votes.
Biden won the state by 81,000 votes out of some 6.9 million cast. Trump had taken the state by 44,000 votes over Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Trump had made Pennsylvania, one of the states he needed to win reelection, a key part of his failed legal attempts to overturn his election defeat.
He has claimed, without evidence, that he was defeated due to fraudulent voting and counting practices in several states.
Over the weekend a Pennsylvania judge rejected a legal challenge submitted by the Trump campaign which sought to nullify millions of votes.
And the Pennsylvania Supreme Court turned back another Trump challenge Monday over counting mailed votes where the ballots were not completed perfectly.
Michigan鈥檚 Board of State Canvassers officially certified Biden鈥檚 win on Monday after he topped Trump by nearly 156,000 votes out of the 5.5 million cast.
Georgia certified Biden鈥檚 victory there on Friday after a recount, but will undertake another machine review of the ballots at the Trump campaign鈥檚 request. Almost no one expects a different result.
Nevada, another state where Republicans have sought to have Trump鈥檚 loss overturned, will certify its vote on Tuesday.
And two other states where Trump has challenged results, Wisconsin and Arizona, have until next week to finalize their counts.
But as in the other states, Trump鈥檚 deficit in the vote is unlikely to be significantly affected by recounts and reviews.
State certification is normally routine but Trump鈥檚 refusal to admit defeat complicated and delayed the process in key states.
On Monday, Trump acknowledged for the first time that the government agency meant to ease Biden鈥檚 transition into the White House must 鈥渄o what needs to be done.鈥�
But he added: 鈥淥ur case STRONGLY continues, we will keep up the good fight, and I believe we will prevail!鈥�