Who will officially declare the winner of the US presidential election?

Unlike many other countries where the president or prime minister is directly elected by popular vote, in the United States it is possible for a candidate to win the popular vote and still not be elected to the highest office in the land. The United States also differs from most other democracies in that there is no independent electoral commission to certify the final vote count.

So who actually confirms the winner?

Step 1: Before Election Day

American democracy has many elected officials – at the state, local and national levels – and many procedures for taking office.

I've been working on campaigns since I was eight years old, when my dad ran for school board and I went door to door asking people to vote for him. I have also worked on local, congressional, Senate and presidential elections and now run an academic research center on politics.

What is striking is that every race is different, from the deadlines to the registration process and certification. Here I will focus on the presidential race.

The unusual and complicated certification process for presidential elections in the United States involves all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia, the Senate, the House of Representatives, the National Archives and the Federal Register Office. This includes the Electoral College – a unique American institution that meets every four years in 51 different locations to elect the president.

This months-long process was designed as a compromise by the Founding Fathers, who did not believe that the American people should directly elect the president and vice president but also did not want to give Congress the power to choose.

The Constitution states that American presidential elections take place every four years on the first Tuesday in November. But the federal election process actually begins in October, when the Archivist of the United States — a presidential appointee responsible for managing the government's most important official documents — sends a letter to the governor of each state.

The document describes their responsibilities regarding the Electoral College, which is not a place but a process through which electors – people chosen by their party – vote for their party's presidential candidate.

The mechanics of the Electoral College are complicated, but in short: Americans choose their voters and the voters choose the president. Then the winner will be announced – right?

Read more: How is the American president elected?

Step 2: After Election Day

Not quite.

Once a final count of voters' in-person, mail-in and provisional ballots is completed, all 50 governors will prepare their state's Certificate of Ascertainment, a document listing their electors for the competing candidates.

Each state carries out this process at its own pace. This year, due to all the lawsuits challenging the results of the 2020 election, new procedures are in place to expedite a challenge to a state's certification by an aggrieved candidate. Upon completion, copies of the Certificate of Determination will be submitted to the U.S. Archivist.

After the governor submits names to the archivist, each state's Electoral College electors meet at the state capital – DCs meet in DC – to officially cast their votes for president and vice president on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December. This year that is December 17, 2024.

Each state's voters prepare six certificates of voting, although the manner may vary from state to state. One will be sent by certified mail to the President of the United States Senate and another to the Archivist of the United States. The remaining four certificates will be sent to state officials.

This means that the tasks of the Electoral College have been completed until the next presidential election.

Step 3: Congress meets

On January 6th, Congress meets to count the electoral votes and confirm the winner of the election.

Since the sitting Vice President also serves as President of the Senate, Kamala Harris will lead this count in 2025, just as Vice President Mike Pence did in January 2021 when Joe Biden was officially elected President-elect. Each state, called in alphabetical order, casts its votes.

This process is usually ceremonial, as the media has announced a winner by January and a concession speech has typically been given. But officially it is the moment of truth.

On January 6, 2021, an armed pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Biden's victory. Both chambers of Congress were evacuated during the attack, killing five people.

A few hours later, the MPs met again. It is the vice president's job to announce the results and ask if there are any objections. After the violent attack on the Capitol, most Senate Republicans abandoned plans to challenge Biden's victory in 2021, but six still protested.

Objections are not unprecedented. In 2001, Democratic House representatives tried for 20 minutes to block Florida's hard-fought electoral votes for George W. Bush.

Both attempts failed because the objections had to be signed by both a member of the House of Representatives and the Senate before both chambers of Congress could vote on them. After a law was passed in 2022, housing challenges became more difficult. Now, 20 senators and 87 House members must support any challenge to the certification of a state's Electoral College results.

In 2021, as President of the Senate, it was Pence's responsibility to declare Biden – not Trump – the next President of the United States. He fulfilled his constitutional duty despite enormous pressure from Trump to undermine democracy.

After the Senate certifies the election results, all certifications and voter certifications will be available for public inspection in the Chancellor's Office for one year and then transferred to the National Archives for permanent record.

So anyone who questions the outcome of a US election can check the tables themselves again.

What happens if there is a draw?

In the exceptional event that no candidate wins in the Electoral College, the House of Representatives meets to elect the next president. John Quincy Adams became president in 1824.

This complex process began nearly 250 years ago and is a foundation of American democracy. Many have questioned whether this outdated system truly reflects the will of the people of modern America.

But for 2024, with a few changes, it remains the process that will decide the presidential election.

This article was originally published during the 2020 presidential election. It was updated on November 1, 2024.