The presidential race is just over, but it will be at least a few more weeks before either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump can take the oath of White House. For state and federal officials to correctly ascertain who received the most electoral college votes, numerous crucial dates must be met during the ballot-counting process.
Between Election Day to Inauguration Day, here is an outline of what’s going to happen:
• Election Day is November 5, 2024. Determining the outcome could take several days.
• The results will be certified by the state on November 7. It is the responsibility of the state election officials to verify the accuracy of the results once the votes have been counted.
The official vote counts will be certified by the states at different times. The United States Election Assistance Commission states that by November 7, Delaware must have certified its votes. Certification of results is due in several states on different dates: North Carolina and Nevada on November 26, Michigan on November 25, and crucial battleground state Georgia on November 23. The electoral college results must be certified by December 1 in Wisconsin and December 2 in Arizona. No specific certification dates have been set for Rhode Island and Pennsylvania.
• The first day of briefings for the president’s transition is November 11. If the federal agencies are unable to predict a winner by November 11, they must start briefing the Trump and Harris campaign teams independently on the top priorities and critical positions that require to be filled.
• The hush money trial sentencing for Trump will be on November 26. An adult film star accused Trump of paying money to keep quiet about an alleged sexual encounter is set to be sentenced in a Manhattan hush money case where Trump was convicted of forging documents to conceal payments to silence her.
• Once all of the states have validated their results, the head of state (usually the governor) will sign “certificates of ascertainment” to officially give that state’s electors to the candidate who won the election. These are the documents that Congress considers to be the end product. The deadline for the signatures of each state’s governor on the certificates is December 11.
• Electors vote is on December 17th. As members of the Electoral College, they will convene in Washington, DC, and their home states to choose the next president and vice president. This takes place on the initial Tuesday following the second Wednesday of December every election cycle. That date is December 17th, 2024.
• On December 25, the Electoral Votes reach the nation’s capital. It is required that the archivist and the vice president (now Harris) receive the electoral votes by this date. Their arrival deadline is the fourth Wednesday of December, which happens to be Christmas Day this year.
• Every two years, the newly elected House and Senate meet at noon on January 3, 2025. If electoral certificates are not obtained, the Senate president can request them from the Archivist.
• The electoral votes will be counted on January 6. During a joint session of Congress, the vice president presides over the Electoral College vote scoring and declares the winners.
• Inauguration Day is January 20. During an inauguration ceremony, the president-elect and vice president-elect each take the oath of office.