{"id":90301,"date":"2020-11-09T07:50:22","date_gmt":"2020-11-09T12:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/?p=90301"},"modified":"2020-11-09T07:53:11","modified_gmt":"2020-11-09T12:53:11","slug":"auto-draft-307","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/2020\/11\/09\/auto-draft-307\/","title":{"rendered":"What It Means to Become President-Elect in the US"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"VOA \u2014 WASHINGTON – In the United States, Democrat Joe Biden is now being called the president-elect.<\/p>\n

That means Biden, a fixture on the Washington political scene for nearly a half century, is the country\u2019s leader-in-waiting.<\/p>\n

President-elect is a descriptive term not an official office. As such, Biden has no power in the government, and he won\u2019t until he is inaugurated at noon on January 20, 2021.<\/p>\n

But Biden is already considering key appointments to his administration, and he says that in the first days after taking office he will reverse several policies of the incumbent he defeated, Republican President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

So, there is much for Biden to consider and prepare for in the next 2.5 months, but he does not yet have any authority in an official capacity.<\/p>\n

Trump remains president as his four-year term as the country\u2019s 45th president winds down. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Certifying election tally <\/strong><\/p>\n

The U.S. election won\u2019t be officially certified for weeks.<\/p>\n

First, election officials in each of the country\u2019s 50 states and the District of Columbia must certify the official vote count for Biden and Trump. Numerous states are still counting ballots from Tuesday\u2019s election and the weeks of early voting.<\/p>\n

The U.S. elects its presidents through an indirect form of democracy, in the 538-member Electoral College, where a majority of 270 votes are needed to claim the presidency. The most populous states hold the most sway in determining the outcome, not the national popular vote.<\/p>\n