12 electoral college votes were certified by the Congress before violence broke out

Before Trump supporters stormed into the US Capitol and disrupted the Congress, only 12 out of 538 electoral college votes were certified. 

The certification of electoral college votes work in alphabetical order and started with certifying for the electoral colleges in Alabama. 

While the US Congress was in session, Alabama and Alaska’s electoral college votes were certified before the violence broke out. The 12 votes which were successfully certified were in favour of the outgoing US President Donald Trump. 

There are 538 electoral votes in total, one for each congressperson and senator plus three for Washington, DC.

Under normal circumstances, the certification of votes is a mere formality by Congress to acknowledge the electoral colleges, however, a few Republican representatives in the US Congress had declared that they will be objecting against the votes.  

In the US Presidential elections in November 2020, Joe Biden secured a total of 306 electoral college votes while Donald Trump could only get 232. 

As it was predicted by Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, a few Republicans objected to the electoral college votes of Arizona, which were in favour of Joe Biden. The violence broke out while the Congress members were debating the objections.  

After the riots broke out, Congress went into recess. It is not clear when they could reconvene to continue the certification process.