Harris is the first sitting Vice President since Al Gore in 2001 to certify their own election loss.

Far different from the chaos of four years ago, the Constitutionally proscribed action of Congress certifying the results of the 2024 presidential election concluded with little drama today, officially giving former President Donald Trump victory in the Electoral College.

Unlike many congressional certifications before, no member of Congress stood to object to any states’ electoral votes. Vice President Kamala Harris, serving as President of the Senate, presided over the process. Harris is the first sitting Vice President since Al Gore in 2001 to preside over the certification of their opponent.

The final tally was 312 electoral votes in Trump’s favor compared to 226 for Harris. The tallying and announcement lasted less than an hour. There were no protestors outside the Capitol, though Washington, D.C. has been experiencing a significant snowstorm the last 36 hours.

After the certification, congressional Democrats were quick to take a victory lap and frame the day’s events as “what the peaceful transfer of power should look like”, referencing the events of 2021 in which thousands of Americans entered the Capitol and disrupted the certification of the 2020 election. House Administration Committee ranking Democrat Joe Morelle told Axios “the anomaly of the last for years cannot be repeated”, despite Biden having been President the last four years.

While some saw the objection to the 2020 presidential election results as out of the ordinary, the 1968, 2000, 2004, and 2016 elections all saw protests and objections from members of Congress during the certification.  In 2016, Hollywood A-listers such as Martin Sheen, Debra Messing, James Cromwell, and Bob Odenkirk recorded a video urging Republican electors to not vote for Donald Trump.

The 2004 election results were challenged by then-Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones and Sen. Barbara Boxer, specifically the results from Ohio, which 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said were plagued by efforts of the Ohio Secretary of State to “intimidate Ohioans and suppress the Democratic vote.”

With the certification complete, Washington turns to January 20th, when Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance will be sworn in.