Congress will convene for a joint session Monday afternoon to formally count the Electoral College vote — the last step in making President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 victory official.

The constitutionally prescribed event is usually a formality, but became a major flashpoint four years ago, on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters ransacked the Capitol in a fury over the 45th president’s defeat by Joe Biden.

This time around, the ceremony is expected to be far less dramatic, though a snowstorm in the Washington, DC, area may limit attendance among members of the House and Senate.

Vice President Kamala Harris will have the unpleasant task of presiding over the confirmation of her Nov. 5 defeat by Trump — a grim duty also carried out by Al Gore 24 years ago. Technically Vice President Mike Pence also had to certify his defeat four years ago, but unlike Harris and Gore, he wasn’t at the top of that ticket.

Here’s how the process works.

The 2024 presidential election took place on Nov. 5, 2024. Trump was quickly projected as the winner, but technically all 50 states and the District of Columbia still had to take additional steps to certify the results.

Dec. 11, 2024, was the final so-called “safe harbor” date for each state to finalize their individual vote tallies.

Then, on Dec. 17, 2024, the 538 members of the Electoral College cast their votes to officially make Trump the 47th president-elect.

The Republican nominee received 312 electoral votes, while Harris, the Democratic candidate, received 226.

Next, in keeping with the Electoral Count Act, both chambers of Congress must meet to formally count the Electoral College vote.

This will take place beginning at 1 p.m. Monday in the House chamber.

During the joint session, Congress will open sealed certifications from each state, transported in fancy mahogany boxes, that detail the electoral vote count.

Each chamber appoints two tellers — one from each party — to read the certificates out loud. The presiding officer opens the certificates and helps disburse them to the tellers.

The tellers then announce the certificates from each state in alphabetical order, stating whether they appear to be “authentic,” and give the results.

While each state result is read aloud, members can attempt to raise objections. However, in order to be considered, those lawmakers need to object in writing and garner signatures from one-fifth of each chamber — at least 20 senators and 87 representatives.

Previously, the threshold had been set at one lawmaker per chamber, but that number was increased in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot.

Should an objection attain the threshold, the joint session is suspended and the House and Senate return to their separate chambers to begin debate on the claim.

Each chamber must agree to the objection by a majority vote in order to sustain it and remove the disputed state’s tally from the electoral vote total.

No lawmaker is expected to raise an objection that will meet the necessary one-fifth threshold.

Four years ago, Republican objections to the electoral vote result in Arizona and Pennsylvania were spurned, ensuring Biden’s victory over Trump by a 306-232 margin.

After each state’s certificate has been read by the tellers, Harris will announce the final Electoral College vote total before concluding the joint session.

Eight years ago, the count confirming Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton took just 32 minutes — in contrast to the nearly 15 hours needed to affirm Biden’s win four years ago.

In the run-up to Jan. 6, 2021, allies of Trump concocted a constitutionally dubious plan to reverse his election loss by pressing states to furnish an alternative slate of electors. From there, they intended to have Pence “decertify” the results of key states that Biden won.

Once enough states had been removed from the tally that neither Biden nor Trump could win, the theory went, the House would have been required to determine a winner.

Ultimately, Pence declined to “decertify” the election results, stating that he had no power to do so.

Since then, Congress has passed the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022, affirming that the vice president’s role in the joint session is ceremonial.

The laws also clarified how a candidate could contest the election results in court rather than via the legislature.

Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security has designated Monday a “National Special Security Event,” meaning the feds will have more resources at the ready should someone try to repeat the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

Members of the 119th Congress were sworn in last Friday, giving Republicans control of the Senate in addition to the House.

Trump will take the oath of office as the 47th president at noon on Jan. 20.