Pennsylvania certifies election win for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

Teresa Boeckel
York Daily Record

Pennsylvania has certified the results that Democratic candidates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have won the race for president and vice president.

The news came Tuesday morning that Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar had certified the results. All 67 counties had submitted their certified votes to the state by late Monday, according to a news release.

Gov. Tom Wolf signed a Certificate of Ascertainment for the slate of electors for Biden and Harris. It was submitted to the Archivist of the United States.

The vote totals are as follows: 

  • Democratic candidates Joseph R. Biden and Harris: 3,458,229
  • Republican candidates Donald J. Trump and Michael R. Pence: 3,377,674
  • Libertarian Party Jo Jorgensen and Jeremy Spike Cohen: 79,380

More:How Pa. chooses Electoral College voters and who are the 20 pledged to pick Joe Biden?

More:Pa. election certification: What we know as deadline hits

More:How these Pennsylvania counties helped Biden win, and what it means for 2022 and 2024 elections

President-elect Joe Biden, his wife, Jill Biden, and members of the Biden family, along with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, stand on stage Nov. 7 in Wilmington, Delaware.

"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,” Wolf said in the news release.

In the news release, Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar called county election officials and poll workers "the true heroes of our democracy" as they worked long hours to ensure that every qualified voter's ballot was counted safely and securely.

Meanwhile, Trump's legal challenges continue to move through the court system.

Over the weekend, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Brann refused to block certification of the results in Pennsylvania

"One might expect that when seeking such a startling outcome, a plaintiff would come formidably armed with compelling legal arguments and factual proof of rampant corruption," he wrote. "Instead, this court has been presented with strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations ... unsupported by evidence. 

"In the United States of America, this cannot justify the disenfranchisement of a single voter, let alone all the voters of its sixth most populated state."

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro issued this statement on Tuesday: 

“Pennsylvania’s presidential electors have been chosen and certified for President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris in accordance with the popular vote in our Commonwealth. 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.”