'Time to turn the page', says Joe Biden after Electoral College confirms his win over Donald Trump in US election

'Time to turn the page', says Joe Biden after Electoral College confirms his win over Donald Trump in US election

'Time to turn the page', says Joe Biden after Electoral College confirms his win over Donald Trump in US election

Washington : US President-elect Joe Biden has told election-weary Americans that it is time to "turn the page", after the Electoral College affirmed his triumph over President Donald Trump, who has refused to concede and filed a litany of legal challenges to overturn the poll result.

Crossed 270 threshold

The 538-member Electoral College pushed Joe Biden past the 270-vote threshold to win the bitterly contested race for the White House.

It was one of the crucial steps required for the 78-year-old Democrat to take office on January 20 as the 46th US President.

Putin congratulates Biden on victory

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday congratulated Joe Biden on winning the election after weeks of holding out. His message came a day after the Electoral College confirmed Biden as the nation's next president. AP

The 538-member Electoral College pushed Biden past the 270-vote threshold to win the bitterly-contested race for the White House. It was one of the crucial steps required for the 78-year-old Democrat to take office on January 20 as the 46th US President.

'Time to turn the page', says Joe Biden after Electoral College confirms his win over Donald Trump in US election

'Time to turn the page', says Joe Biden after Electoral College confirms his win over Donald Trump in US election

Under the US system, voters actually cast their ballots for electors, who in turn, formally vote for candidates weeks after the presidential election. Biden won the November 3 election with 306 electoral college votes to incumbent Republican President Trump's 232. The Electoral College votes will now be sent to Congress to be counted formally next month. Though some House Republicans have indicated they will object to the results in key states, they can do little more than delay the process during a joint session of Congress on January 6.

In a speech from his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware after the announcement of his victory in the election, Biden said the US democracy had been "pushed, tested and threatened" and "proved to be resilient, true and strong". He criticised Trump's attempts to overturn the result, saying the "will of the people prevailed".

"The rule of law, our Constitution and the will of the people prevailed" over Trump's efforts. The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. And we now know nothing, not even a pandemic or an abuse of power, can extinguish that flame,” Biden said. "In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed. We the people voted. Faith in our institutions held. The integrity of our elections remains intact. And so, now it is time to turn the page," he said. — PTI