As I write this, some decision desks have called the election for Biden. I expect others will soon follow suit, and the math indicates a Biden win. The results will not be official until January, when Congress counts electoral college votes. Before that, states will complete their counting, and in some places (such as Georgia) there may be automatic recounts before there is certification.

There could also be more litigation before certification in each state, but it is extremely unlikely to change the result for reasons I and others have explained. None of the lawsuits are likely to succeed: almost none go to the vote count, and the one in PA would only matter if the election were close enough that late counting ballots would make a difference. They won’t, based on everything we know. The other lawsuits are just tinkering around the edges. Recounts at the statewide level are extremely unlikely to change election outcomes, and not in enough states to change the electoral college results.

President Trump now has a choice to make. He could graciously concede, as Presidents Carter and George H.W. Bush did when they lost after one term. I don’t expect it to happen. At best he will grumble and continue to claim the election was stolen from him. At worst, he will try to undermine a Biden presidency by continuing to spread false and malicious claims that the election was stolen and that there was fraud.

And that means that other Republicans have a choice to make too. I would like to see Mitch McConnell quickly come out and accept the election results, and others as well, including George W. Bush. Peaceful transitions of power require losers to accept election results as legitimate and move on to fight another day. Trump may not do that, but other responsible voices must do so.

The country needs healing and voices across the political spectrum need to squash down the disgusting and unsupported claims that the election is stolen. Full stop. It is dangerous to democracy.