Elections

Here are the key Electoral College dates to keep in mind ahead of Inauguration Day

NPR | By Benjamin Swasey

Published November 1, 2024 at 5:00 AM EDT

A person holds the certificate of electoral votes from Pennsylvania during a joint session of Congress early on Jan. 7, 2021, as the counting of electoral votes resumed after the riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election — culminating with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol — put a spotlight on what are essentially ministerial steps between Election Day and Inauguration Day.

And with Trump, the Republican nominee, refusing to commit to honor the results of the 2024 presidential election, these incremental aspects of the process are worth paying attention to again.

Here are the key dates ahead:

Nov. 5 — Election Day

The end of voting marks the beginning of reporting results. While no votes can be cast after Election Day, many states allow postmarked mail ballots to come in for several days after, and for voters to fix errors with their ballots.

Over the next few weeks

Election officials will always tell you that results reported on election night are unofficial. Over the next few weeks, they'll confirm those tallies, add in provisional ballots and ballots from overseas, and deal with any recounts, getting to the official results by both local and state certification deadlines. (These deadlines vary by state; you can see all of them here.)

Dec. 11 — The appointing of electors

This is a key deadline: It's when a state "executive" has to certify the state's presidential electors. (The governor is a state's default executive, unless state law ahead of time designates another official.) According to the Electoral Count Reform Act, which was passed on a bipartisan vote in 2022, this deadline is six days before the electors meet, which this year is...

Dec. 17 — The meeting of electors

The appointed presidential electors from each state will meet in their state capitals to cast their official votes for the candidate who won their state's votes. Together, these gatherings are referred to as the meeting of the Electoral College.

Dec. 25 — The arrival of the electoral votes

The president of the Senate and the national archivist must receive the electoral certificates of each state by the fourth Wednesday in December.

Jan. 3, 2025 — The swearing-in of the new Congress

The new Congress is sworn in before its members count the presidential electoral votes.

Jan. 6 — The counting of electoral votes in Congress

In the election's final step, members of Congress convene to count the electoral votes.

Following the effort to overturn the 2020 election, the Electoral Count Reform Act also introduced a series of reforms to this joint session, such as clarifying that the vice president's role (as president of the Senate) in overseeing this count is "ministerial," and raising the threshold for objections to a state's electoral slates to one-fifth of each chamber.

Jan. 20 — Inauguration Day

The 47th president takes the oath of office outside the Capitol.