Dressed in a maroon suit and with her hands clasped before her, she looked ahead intently as four senators took turns reading the electoral college votes of each state in alphabetical order as they were added up.
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It didn’t take long before Trump hit the threshold required to become president – 270 electoral college votes – and once the tally had been counted, Harris performed the perfunctory role of declaring the result.
“The whole number of the electors appointed to vote for president of the United States is 538. Within that whole number, the majority is 270. The votes for president of the United States are as follows: Donald J Trump of the state of Florida has received 312 votes,” she said.
As Republicans stood up and cheered, Harris broke into a polite smile and waited for the applause to die down before reading out the rest of the result in the third person: “Kamala D Harris of the state of California has received 226 votes.”
It was a calm, respectful and uneventful process – in stark contrast to the scenes that played out on January 6, 2021, after Trump lost the election to Joe Biden.
Rioters loyal to president Donald Trump overrun the US Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021, trying to overturn the 2020 election result.Credit: AP
Back then, even before the Congress convened, Trump held a rally at the Ellipse that would end up inciting some of his followers into a frenzy as he continued to claim the election was rigged.
“We fight like hell and if we don’t fight like hell we’re not going to have a country any more,” he told them.
Soon enough, supporters were storming the US capitol building, breaching police lines, breaking windows and doors, and ransacking politicians’ offices. Some even threatened to hang Vice President Mike Pence, who had refused Trump’s demands to block Biden’s victory from being certified.
It wasn’t until Trump reluctantly urged his fans to return home that Congress could resume the count, eventually declaring Biden the president, and Harris his vice president, in the early hours of the following morning.
Law enforcement officers stand guard at the Capitol as snow falls ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes for thee 2024 electionCredit: AP
But even amid the calm scenes this year, Washington was filled with small reminders of its darkest day four years ago.
The city – which is preparing for Trump’s inauguration on January 20 – looked like a fortress, with tall black metal fencing around the US Capitol building. Federal, state and local security forces had been beefed up across the district, and for the first time, the day had been designated as a “national special security event” by the Department of Homeland Security Department.
Cable TV also televised the vote counting live on air – something that would not have happened had the events of January 6, 2021 not brought such a traditionally dull ceremony event into global focus.
And when Trump was finally declared the winner, the president-elect posted a photo of himself on social media with one simple word in capital letters: “CERTIFIED!”
He was indeed. This is what democracy looks like.
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