Elections officials in the US state of Michigan have voted to officially certify the 3 November election results, providing Democrat Joe Biden with 16 electoral votes.
By popular vote in the state, Biden has a lead over President Donald Trump of more than 154,000 votes, according to Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
"The people of Michigan have spoken. President-elect Biden won State of Michigan by more than 154,000 votes, and he will be our next president on 20 January", Whitmer said in statement on Monday.
On Friday, Georgia officially certified Biden as the election winner in the state, giving him 16 electoral college votes.
Following the news, Trump's campaign issued a statement saying that vote certification by states is "simply a procedural step" and vowed to continue its legal fight to ensure legitimate results. President Trump has challenged vote counts in several states, including Michigan, saying the election results there had been rigged to put Biden ahead. In Michigan particularly, Trump said that the votes were "far greater than the number of people who voted".
In certain swing states, there were more votes than people who voted, and in big numbers. Does that not really matter? Stopping Poll Watchers, voting for unsuspecting people, fake ballots and so much more. Such egregious conduct. We will win!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 23, 2020
Last week, the president's campaign withdrew its lawsuit on the election results in Michigan, with Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani saying they'd achieved the needed "relief"- stopping the premature certification of the election results in Wayne County, Michigan's most populous, before "every legal vote has been counted".
Prior to that, two Republicans on the Wayne County Board of Canvassers signed affidavits that they received threats in order to certify the county's election results. According to Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, they were called "racists" for urging local authorities not to certify the results.
Michigan was one of the critical battleground states in the 2020 race. In 2016, Trump won the state with a narrow margin against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
