The United States Congress is due to meet on Wednesday to make the Electoral College tally official and certify Mr Joe Biden's victory in what is largely a ceremonial session.

Mr Biden won 306 of the Electoral College votes that represent the results of the popular vote in each of the US states, while incumbent Donald Trump won 232.

Under the Electoral College system, "electoral votes" are allotted to states and the District of Columbia based on their congressional representation.

On Wednesday, as the presiding officer of the Senate, Vice-President Mike Pence has the responsibility of tallying votes sent from each state and announcing their electoral results.

Mr Trump's allies in Congress are mounting a last-minute effort to subvert the results of the election by objecting to the certification of key states' electoral results.

Their effort, led by Representative Louie Gohmert in the House and Mr Josh Hawley in the Senate, will force each chamber to debate the objections for up to two hours.

With a majority of Republicans in the Senate expected to certify the election and with the House controlled by Democrats, the bid is destined to fail.

Mr Biden is set to be sworn in on Jan 20.