Why Kelly Loeffler can take part in the Electoral College count and David Perdue can't

As the dust settles in Georgia's hotly contested Senate runoff races, Congress is also convening Wednesday for a joint session to count electoral votes and officially declare President-elect Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 election.

The Associated Press projected incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler would lose to Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock in Georgia’s highly contested runoff election, but she is still able to take part in Wednesday's Electoral College count.

Loeffler was appointed at the beginning of 2020 to fill a Senate term running through 2023, so her term will not end until Warnock takes office. The other Republican in the race, David Perdue, is not currently a senator because his term expired last Sunday.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has until Jan. 22 to certify the results of the runoff, and a vote margin under 0.5% will trigger a recount.

Some congressional Republicans are expected to launch a longshot plan to contest the results of the November presidential election during Wednesday's proceedings. President-elect Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump by 306-232 electoral votes, but Trump has, without evidence, claimed widespread electoral fraud and called on Republicans and Vice President Mike Pence to challenge Wednesday's count.

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The effort has no chance of thwarting the certification, though that has not stopped at least 140 Republicans in the House of Representatives and almost a GOP dozen senators, including Loeffler, from supporting the effort.

Democratic control of the House, however, ensures that the Republican effort will fail in the lower chamber, and Republicans in the Senate are divided on the issue too.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is also expected to take part in Wednesday's proceedings, as her Senate term does not expire until she resigns to officially become vice president.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Georgia loss won't affect Kelly Loeffler's Electoral College challenge