Almost one-and-a-half months after the U.S. elections, Joe Biden has officially been chosen by the Electoral College as the country's next president.

This win comes after weeks of current president Donald Trump refusing to concede the election, claiming the election was "rigged" and launching a number of lawsuits in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

What is the Electoral College?

If the U.S. election was held on November 3, why did it take so long for Biden to officially be chosen as president?

The answer lies in the Electoral College system that the U.S. employs.

Under the Electoral College system, voters don’t directly vote for the candidate they want to be president.

In November this year, voters weren't voting for Trump or Biden. Instead, they were casting their ballots for individuals nominated by the candidates as their preferred electors, according to the U.S. National Archives.

There are 538 slots for electors in the Electoral College, which are distributed amongst all 50 states in the U.S. (plus Washington D.C.), according to how populous these states are.

These elector positions are then awarded by the states (except for Maine and Nebraska) in a winner-takes-all fashion once the November presidential votes are counted.

The electors meet a month later, in December, to vote for the president of the U.S.

"Massive fraud"

On Monday (Dec. 14) night in the U.S., electors gathered to cast paper ballots with masks, social distancing, and other precautions due to Covid-19 in place, reported Associated Press (AP).

Even as electors cast their votes, The New York Times wrote, Trump tweeted about a "rigged election" and "massive fraud", claims that have since been marked by Twitter as "disputed".

“Why did the Swing States stop counting in the middle of the night?” @MariaBartiromo Because they waited to find out how many ballots they had to produce in order to steal the Rigged Election. They were so far behind that they needed time, & a fake “water main break”, to recover!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2020

WOW. This report shows massive fraud. Election changing result! https://t.co/dFT3sRpUY5

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2020

"Democracy proved to be resilient, true, and strong"

In a speech after the announcement of his electoral win, Biden said:

"Once again in America, the rule of law, our Constitution, and the will of the people have prevailed. Our democracy — pushed, tested, threatened — proved to be resilient, true, and strong."

He added that the results showed that "nothing, not even a pandemic or an abuse of power, can extinguish that flame [of democracy]", reported AP.

Biden also pointed out the irony of the situation; four years ago, Trump won with the same number of votes — 306 — as Biden did this year, which Trump had then called a "landslide".

"By his own standards, these numbers represent a clear victory then, and I respectfully suggest they do so now," Biden added.

According to CNN, the next step is for the Electoral College votes to be sent to Congress, where they will be counted formally in January.

Some Republicans in the House of Representatives have said that they will object to the results in certain key states, although they can do little other than the delay the process.

Biden will be inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2021 at noon.

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Top photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images.