The Electoral College: A 2020 Presidential Election Timeline

The Electoral College: A 2020 Presidential Election Timeline

Updated October 22, 2020
The Electoral College: A 2020 Presidential Election Timeline
Every four years, the election process for President and
and local elected officials, party activists, celebrities, and
Vice President follows a familiar timeline of events. At the
ordinary citizens.
same time, a related series of procedures governing
electoral college actions proceeds on a parallel track. This
Faithless Electors: Independent or Bound to Vote
report focuses on the electoral college timeline for the 2020
for the People’s Choice?
presidential election. For additional information on the
The role of presidential electors has been widely debated.
electoral college, see CRS Report RL32611, The Electoral
Some observers claim they are free agents, while others
College: How It Works in Contemporary Presidential
maintain they must vote for the candidates to whom they
Elections, by Thomas H. Neale.
are pledged, although this is not required by the
Constitution. In some years, “faithless electors” have voted
The 2020 Nomination and Election
against their party’s nominees, although they have never
Campaign Timeline
influenced a presidential election outcome. Thirty-three
In a presidential election year, campaigns for the nation’s
states and the District of Columbia have laws or party
highest offices include a number of sequential processes
regulations that require electors to vote for the people’s
and events that take place over a period that may begin
choice in their state, and in some states faithless electors
years before election day. Broadly defined, these include
may be replaced or may be subject to various penalties.
the informal campaign of candidate declarations,
fundraising, organizing, and intraparty debates (various
July 6, 2020: Supreme Court Ruling on Faithless
start times through February of the election year); the
Electors, Chiafolo v. Washington
formal nomination campaign, in which candidates contest
The constitutionality of state measures to prohibit or
nominating caucuses and primaries (February-July); the
penalize faithless electors has been debated for many years.
national party conventions, where the presidential and vice
On July 6, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in Chiafolo v.
presidential candidates are nominated (July-August); the
Washington that state laws penalizing or replacing faithless
general election campaign (August-November), including
electors are constitutionally valid. For further information
presidential and vice presidential debates (September-
and a legal analysis, see CRS Legal Sidebar LSB10515,
October); and general election day, November 3, 2020.
Supreme Court Clarifies Rules for Electoral College: States
May Restrict Faithless Electors, which explains the Court’s
The 2020 Electoral College Timeline
decision and reviews its broader implications.
During the election campaign, a series of events related to
electoral college operations proceeds on a parallel timeline,
November 3, 2020: General Election Day
overlapping both the nomination and general election
General election day for electors for the President and Vice
schedules. It includes nomination of candidates for the
President is set by law (3 U.S.C. §1) as the Tuesday after
office of elector; choice of the electors by the voters on
the first Monday in November in presidential election
election day; ascertainment of results in the states; meetings
years. Voters cast a single vote for a joint ticket of their
and votes by electors in their respective states; and
preferred candidates for President and Vice President.
reporting results as directed by law. It culminates with the
When they do so, they are actually voting for the electors
joint session of Congress to count the electoral votes and
committed to support those candidates.
declare the President and Vice President to be elected. The
electoral college timeline is governed by the U.S. Code at 3
November 4-December 14, 2020: Counting Popular
U.S.C. §§1-18, the Twelfth and Twentieth Amendments to
Votes and Filing Certificates of Ascertainment
the Constitution, and state laws and political party rules.
Following election day, the states are to count and certify
popular vote results according to their respective statutory
May-August 2020: Elector Candidates Nominated
and procedural requirements. When the states have
In each state, political parties and independent candidates
completed their vote counts and ascertained the official
that qualify for ballot access nominate a ticket (or slate) of
results, the U.S. Code (3 U.S.C. §6) requires the state
candidates for the office of elector for President and Vice
governors to prepare, “as soon as practicable,” documents
President. The number of elector-candidates nominated by
known as Certificates of Ascertainment of the vote. The
each party or group is equal to the number of the state’s
certificates must list the names of the electors chosen by the
electoral votes. Most candidates are nominated by state
voters and the number of votes received in the popular
party committees or at a state party convention. Electors
election results, also the names of all losing candidates for
may not be U.S. Senators, U.S. Representatives, or anyone
elector, and the number of votes they received. Certificates
holding an “Office of Trust or Profit under the United
of Ascertainment, which are often signed by state
States.” In practice, nominees tend to be a mixture of state
governors, must carry the seal of the state. One copy is
forwarded to the Archivist of the United States (the
https://crsreports.congress.gov

The Electoral College: A 2020 Presidential Election Timeline
Archivist), while six duplicates of the Certificate of
January 6, 2021: Joint Session of Congress to Count
Ascertainment must be provided to the electors by
Electoral Votes and Declare Election Results Meets
December 14, the date on which they meet.
On January 6, or another date set by law, the Senate and
House of Representatives assemble at 1:00 p.m. in a joint
December 8, 2020: The “Safe Harbor” Deadline
session at the Capitol, in the House chamber, to count the
The U.S. Code (3 U.S.C. §5) provides that if election
electoral votes and declare the results (3 U.S.C. §15). The
results are contested in any state, and if the state, prior to
Vice President presides as President of the Senate. The Vice
election day, has enacted procedures to settle controversies
President opens the certificates and presents them to four
or contests over electors and electoral votes, and if these
tellers, two from each chamber. The tellers read and make a
procedures have been applied, and the results have been
list of the returns. When the votes have been ascertained
determined six days before the electors’ meetings, then
and counted, the tellers transmit them to the Vice President.
these results are considered to be conclusive, and will apply
If one of the tickets has received a majority of 270 or more
in the counting of the electoral votes. This date, known as
electoral votes, the Vice President announces the results,
the “Safe Harbor” deadline, falls on December 8 in 2020.
which “shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the
The governor of any state where there was a contest, and in
persons, if any, elected President and Vice President.”
which the contest was decided according to established
state procedures, is required (3 U.S.C. §6) to send a
Joint Session Challenges to Electoral Vote Returns
certificate describing the form and manner by which the
While the tellers announce the results, Members may object
determination was made to the Archivist as soon as
to the returns from any individual state as they are
practicable.
announced. Objections to individual state returns must be
made in writing by at least one Member each of the Senate
December 14, 2020: Electors Vote in Their States
and House of Representatives. If an objection meets these
Monday after the second Wednesday in December of
requirements, the joint session recesses and the two houses
presidential election years is set (3 U.S.C. §7) as the date on
separate and debate the question in their respective
which the electors meet and vote. In 2020, the meeting is on
chambers for a maximum of two hours. The two houses
December 14. Electoral college delegations meet separately
then vote separately to accept or reject the objection. They
in their respective states and the District of Columbia at
then reassemble in joint session, and announce the results of
places designated by their state legislature. The electors
their respective votes. An objection to a state’s electoral
vote by paper ballot, casting one ballot for President and
vote must be approved by both houses in order for any
one for Vice President. The electors count the results and
contested votes to be excluded. For additional information,
then sign six certificates, each of which contains two lists,
see CRS Report RL32717, Counting Electoral Votes: An
one of which includes the electoral votes for the President,
Overview of Procedures at the Joint Session, Including
the other, electoral votes for the Vice President, each of
Objections by Members of Congress, coordinated by
which includes the names of persons receiving votes and
Elizabeth Rybicki and L. Paige Whitaker.
the number of votes cast for them. These are known as
January 20, 2021: Presidential Inauguration
Certificates of the Vote, which the electors are required to
On this date, the President and Vice President are to be
sign. They then pair the six Certificates of Ascertainment
inaugurated. The Twentieth Amendment set the date for
provided by the state governors with the Certificates of the
inaugurations as January 20, beginning in 1937. Since
Vote, and sign, seal, and certify them (3 U.S.C. §§8-10).
1981, the ceremony has, with one exception, been held on
The six certificates are then distributed by registered mail
the West Front of the Capitol. The Vice President takes the
as follows: (1) one certificate to the President of the U.S.
oath first, followed at noon by the President.
Senate (the Vice President); (2) two certificates to the
secretary of state (or equivalent officer) of the state in
Legislative Proposals to Extend the Post-Election
which the electors met; (3) two certificates to the Archivist;
Electoral College Timeline
and (4) one certificate to the judge of the U.S. district court
Concern has been expressed by some that contested or
of the district in which the electors met (3 U.S.C. §11).
delayed state popular vote results in the 2020 presidential
December 23, 2020: Certificates Must Be Delivered
election might prolong counting and ascertainment of
to the Designated Officials
results and encroach on the electoral college timeline. Two
bills introduced in the 116th Congress would extend the
Certificates of electoral vote results must be delivered to
time available for this process. S. 4517, introduced by
above mentioned officers by the fourth Wednesday in
Senator Marco Rubio, would be effective for the 2020-2021
December, in 2020, by December 23 (3 U.S.C. §12).
election. It would change the Safe Harbor date to January 1,
Failure to Deliver Certificates by December 23
2021, and the date on which electors vote to January 2.
H.R. 8492, introduced by Representative David E. Price,
If the certificates from any state have not been delivered by
would change the Safe Harbor date and also reschedule the
December 23, 2020, the President of the Senate, or in their
electoral college meetings to the first day after January 1. It
absence the Archivist, is required to request the secretary of
would also expedite delivery of certificates of the electoral
state or equivalent officer in that state to send one of the
vote and reschedule the joint session of Congress to count
copies they hold to the President of the Senate by registered
electoral votes to the second day after a revised deadline for
mail (3 U.S.C. §12, 13). The Code also directs them to send
election certificate delivery to the Vice President or the
a messenger to the judge of the U.S. district court in the
Archivist.
state directing the judge to transmit the certificate they hold
by “hand ... to the seat of government.”
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The Electoral College: A 2020 Presidential Election Timeline

Thomas H. Neale, Specialist in American National
Government
IF11641

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