Biden reached the milestone on Monday with California's 55 votes. After Hawaii then added its tally, Biden reached 306 votes. Outgoing President Donald Trump received 232.
"In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed," Biden said in a speech after the Electoral College confirmed his victory. "We the people voted. Faith in our institutions held. The integrity of our elections remains intact."
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Confronting Trump's fraud claims
Trump, who has refuted the election results for weeks, continued to make claims that the election was rigged on Monday. In a tweet, he said an unreleased report of voting in a Michigan county could be an "election changing result." The claim was flagged by Twitter as disputed.
Biden confronted Trump's accusations and lawsuits across several states, which have attempted to reject the election results.
"It's a position so extreme we've never seen it before. A position that refused to respect the will of the people, refused to respect the rule of law and refused to honor our constitution," said Biden.
Biden also condemned the threats of violence against election officials.
"It is my sincere hope we never again see anyone subjected to the kind of threats and abuse we saw in this election," he said.
The Electoral College is the 538 electors from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the same number of representatives and senators in Congress. They typically meet in their respective state capitals and vote for president and vice president.
Every state and DC except Maine and Nebraska work under a winner-take-all policy, where the candidate with the most votes in their state receives the entire allotment. Each state's Electoral College vote allotment is determined by its population from the census taken every 10 years.
Maine and Nebraska have two electors that select the candidate with the most votes statewide, and each Congressional district selects its own elector who will support the district's choice. Maine had three Electoral College votes for Biden and one for Trump, while Nebraska saw four electors support Trump and one go for Biden.
Republicans after Trump
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What happens next?
Congress will meet on January 6 to certify the Electoral College votes.
President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are due to be sworn in at noon on January 20, 2021.
Who are Joe Biden's presidential Cabinet picks?
President-elect Joe Biden has begun announcing Cabinet positions as he prepares to take over the White House. Most picks thus far served under President Barack Obama. The US Senate must confirm most of these nominees.
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Antony Blinken, Secretary of State
Blinken is a longtime confidant of President-elect Joe Biden. He's served under two Democratic presidents as well as a key aide on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He also served as a deputy national security adviser and deputy secretary of state in the second Obama administration, when Biden was vice president.
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General Lloyd Austin, Defense Secretary
Austin was a controversial pick — his long career as a military officer requires a Congressional waiver before he can be confirmed. Austin held a series of prominent roles in the US Army and worked with Obama during the US withdrawal from Iraq. If successful, he would be the first Black Pentagon chief.
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Janet Yellen, Treasury Secretary
Biden's nominee for the top position — the first woman ever if confirmed — goes some way towards fulfilling his promise to select a diverse cabinet. Yellen served on the policymaking committee of the Federal Reserve during the 2008 financial crisis and advised Bill Clinton. She would be taking the reigns during one of the worst economic crises in US history.
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Ron Klain, Chief of Staff
A veteran of Washington DC, Klain was an early pick for Biden. As White House chief of staff, he will work closely with the president, setting his agenda and coordinating the levers of power. Klain worked with Biden before when he was vice president as well as serving directly under former President Barack Obama as the Ebola Czar.
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Xavier Becerra, Health Secretary
The California Attorney General was picked to head up the health department under Biden's incoming cabinet during a global health crisis that has hit the US particularly hard. Becerra also helped in passing the Affordable Care Act when he sat in Congress. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the first Latino appointed to the role.
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John Kerry, climate change envoy
The former secretary of state will become Biden's special presidential envoy for climate. Kerry served as a senator from Massachusetts from 1983 to 2013 before taking the top foreign policy role in the second Obama administration. Kerry signed the Paris Climate Agreement for the United States in 2015 — Donald Trump pulled the US out of the accord two years later.
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Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the UN
Thomas-Greenfield served in high-level State Department positions under Obama from 2013 to 2017. She led US policy in sub-Saharan African during the Ebola outbreak. Biden plans to restore the UN ambassador role to a White House Cabinet position.
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Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security
The Cuban-American headed Citizenship and Immigration Services under Obama. He led the implementation of the DACA program that allowed so-called Dreamers, who were brought to the US illegally as children, to stay in the country. If confirmed, he would become the first immigrant and Hispanic to head the Department of Homeland Security.
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Jake Sullivan, National Security Adviser
Sullivan served as Biden's national security adviser from 2013 to 2014 while he was vice president. He also served as Hillary Clinton's deputy when she was Secretary of State. He later served as her chief foreign policy adviser during her unsuccessful presidential bid in 2016.
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Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence
Haines was the first woman to serve as deputy director of the CIA, a role she held from 2013 to 2015. She succeeded Antony Blinken as deputy national security adviser when he moved over to the state department in 2015. If confirmed, she would be the first woman to head the US intelligence community.
