MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota’s electors on Monday formally cast the state’s 10 electoral votes for Democratic President-elect Joe Biden.

It took under 25 minutes for the 10 electors to affirm Biden’s victory in Minnesota and just 40 minutes to complete all the paperwork and adjourn without incident. The 10 electors, all wearing masks, gathered at the Capitol in St. Paul and spread out across the mostly empty Minnesota House chamber to fulfil their civic duties.

Biden defeated Republican President Donald Trump, with 52.4% to 45.3% of the state’s popular vote, to preserve a long Democratic winning streak in Minnesota. The last time the state backed a Republican for president was Richard Nixon in 1972. But Trump’s narrow loss in Minnesota to Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 put the state in the unusual position of being a presidential battleground this year.

“We have conducted today an important constitutional function but we’ve also conducted an important cultural function by showing our commitment to the peaceful transition of power,” Secretary of State Steve Simon told the assembly. “In too much of the word, a change in government comes only through force. We Americans don’t do that. We have our differences — often strong ones— but he are committed to the rule of law. Whether we agree or disagree with the outcome that the laws have produced, we respect and honor that outcome nonetheless.”