2020 United States presidential election

2020 United States presidential election

← 2016 November 3, 2020[a] 2024 →
538 members of the Electoral College 270 electoral votes needed to win
Opinion polls
Turnout	66.6% (6.5 pp)[b]
Nominee Joe Biden Donald Trump Party Democratic Republican Home state Delaware Florida[c] Running mate Kamala Harris Mike Pence Electoral vote 306 232 States carried 25 + DC + NE-02 25 + ME-02 Popular vote 81,283,501[1] 74,223,975[1] Percentage 51.3% 46.8%
Presidential election results map. blue denotes states won by Biden/Harris and red denotes those won by Trump/Pence. Numbers indicate electoral votes cast by each state and the District of Columbia
President before election Donald Trump Republican Elected President Joe Biden Democratic

2020 U.S. presidential election
Timeline 2017–2019 January–October 2020 November 2020 – January 2021 Presidential debates Parties Polling national statewide News media endorsements primary general Fundraising Russian interference Presidential electors Electoral College vote count Presidential transition Subsequent voting restrictions
Attempts to overturn
Protests inauguration week Lawsuits pre-election post-election Texas v. Pennsylvania Fake electors plot Chesebro memos Eastman memos Jeffrey Clark letter January 6 Capitol attack timeline reactions domestic international aftermath
Democratic Party
Primaries timeline Candidates Debates Forums Results Positions Polling national statewide Endorsements Nominee VP candidate selection Convention automatic delegates
Republican Party
Primaries Debates Results Polling Endorsements Nominee Convention Reactions to Trump's fraud claims
Third parties
Libertarian Party primaries convention nominee Green Party primaries debates results convention nominee Third-party and independent candidates
Related races
Senate House Governors
← 2016 2020 2024 →
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Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 2020.^[a] The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Harris defeated the incumbent Republican president Donald Trump, and vice president Mike Pence.^[9] The election took place against the backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic and related recession. The election saw the highest voter turnout by percentage since 1900. Biden received more than 81 million votes,^[10] the most votes ever cast for a candidate in a U.S. presidential election.^[11]

In a competitive primary that featured the most candidates for any political party in the modern era of American politics, Biden secured the Democratic presidential nomination. Biden's running mate, Harris, became the first African-American, first Asian-American, and third female^[d] vice presidential nominee on a major party ticket. Trump secured re-nomination, getting a total of 2,549 delegates, one of the most in presidential primary history, in the Republican primaries.^[12] Jo Jorgensen secured the Libertarian presidential nomination with Spike Cohen as her running mate, and Howie Hawkins secured the Green presidential nomination with Angela Nicole Walker as his running mate.

The central issues of the election included the public health and economic impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; civil unrest in reaction to the police murder of George Floyd and others; the Supreme Court following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett; and the future of the Affordable Care Act.^[13] Due to the ongoing pandemic, a record number of ballots were cast early and by mail.^[14] Thirty-eight states had over half of all votes cast using these methods, and only three states had fewer than 25%.^[15]

Many more registered Democrats voted by mail than registered Republicans.^[16][17] As a result of a large number of mail-in ballots, some swing states saw delays in vote counting and reporting; this led to major news outlets delaying their projection of Biden and Harris as the president-elect and vice president-elect until the morning of November 7, 2020. Major media networks tentatively call a state for a candidate once there is high statistical confidence that the outstanding vote would be unlikely to prevent the projected winner from ultimately winning that state.^[18]

Biden received the majority in the Electoral College with 306 electoral votes, while Trump received 232. Trump was the first president to lose re-election since George H. W. Bush in 1992. Key to Biden's victory were his wins in the Democratic-leaning Rust Belt states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which Trump narrowly carried in 2016 and whose combined 46 electoral votes were enough to swing the election to either candidate. Biden also became the first Democrat to win a presidential election in Georgia since 1992 and in Arizona since 1996, as well as Nebraska's 2nd congressional district since 2008.^[19][20]

Before, during, and after Election Day, Trump and numerous other Republicans engaged in an aggressive and unprecedented^[21] attempt to subvert the election and overturn the results,^[22] falsely alleging widespread voter fraud and trying to influence the vote-counting process in swing states^[23] in what has been described as an attempted self-coup d'état.^[24][25] Attorney General William Barr and officials in each of the 50 states found no evidence of fraud (widespread or otherwise) or irregularities in the election.^[26][27] Federal agencies overseeing election security said it was the most secure in American history.^[28][29][30] The Trump campaign and its allies, including Republican members of Congress,^[31] continued to attempt to overturn the results of the election by filing numerous lawsuits in several states (most of which were withdrawn or dismissed),^[32] spreading conspiracy theories alleging fraud,^[33] pressuring Republican state election officials (including, notably, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in a phone call that later became widely publicized) and legislators to change results,^[34] pressuring the Department of Justice to declare the election "corrupt" and intervene,^[35][36] objecting to the Electoral College certification in Congress,^[37][38] and refusing to cooperate with the presidential transition of Biden.^[25] With Trump vowing that he would never concede the election and after exhorting his followers to "fight like hell",^[39] a mob of Trump supporters attacked the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, during the joint session of Congress held to certify the Electoral College count.^[40] On January 7, Trump acknowledged the incoming administration without mentioning Biden's name.^[41] Biden and Harris were inaugurated on January 20, 2021; in a break from tradition, Trump did not attend his successor's inauguration.^[42] Trump was indicted on August 1, 2023, on four counts relating to conspiring to overturn the results.

Both Trump and Biden ran for their party's nominations in the 2024 election, but Biden dropped out of the race in July 2024. Harris replaced him as presumptive Democratic nominee, with Minnesota governor Tim Walz as her running mate. The Harris/Walz ticket went on to lose to Trump and his running mate, Ohio senator JD Vance, making Trump the first President since Grover Cleveland to be elected to two non-consecutive terms.

Article Two of the Constitution of United States states that for a person to serve as president, the individual must be a natural-born US citizen, be at least 35 years old, and have been a US resident for at least 14 years. Candidates for the presidency typically seek the nomination of one of the various American political parties. Each party develops a method (such as a primary election) to choose the candidate the party deems best suited to run for the position. Primary elections are usually indirect elections where voters cast ballots for a slate of party delegates pledged to a particular candidate. The party's delegates then officially nominate a candidate to run on the party's behalf. The presidential nominee typically chooses a vice presidential running mate to form that party's ticket, which is then ratified by the delegates at the party's convention (except for the Libertarian Party, which nominates its vice-presidential candidate by delegate vote regardless of the presidential nominee's preference). The general election in November is also an indirect election, in which voters cast ballots for a slate of members of the Electoral College; these electors then directly elect the president and vice president.^[43] If no candidate receives the minimum 270 electoral votes needed to win the election, the United States House of Representatives will select the president from among the three candidates who received the most electoral votes, and the United States Senate will select the vice president from among the candidates who received the two highest totals. The presidential election occurred simultaneously alongside elections for the House of Representatives, the Senate, and various state and local-level elections.^[44]

The Maine Legislature passed a bill in August 2019 adopting ranked-choice voting (RCV) both for presidential primaries and for the general election.^[45][46] Governor Janet Mills allowed the bill to become law without her signature, which delayed its taking effect until after the 2020 Democratic primary in March and made Maine the first state to use RCV for a presidential general election. The Maine Republican Party filed signatures for a veto referendum to preclude the use of RCV for the 2020 election, but Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap found there were insufficient valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. A challenge in Maine Superior Court was successful for the Maine Republican Party, but the Maine Supreme Judicial Court^[47][48] stayed the ruling pending appeal on September 8, 2020.^[49] Nevertheless, ballots began being printed later that day without the veto referendum and including RCV for the presidential election,^[50][51] and the Court ruled in favor of the secretary of state on September 22, allowing RCV to be used.^[52] An emergency appeal to the Supreme Court was denied on October 6.^[53] The law continues the use of the congressional district method for the allocation of Maine's electors (Nebraska is the only other state that apportions its electoral votes this way).^[54] While multiple rounds of vote counting were not needed due to a single candidate receiving a majority of first-choice votes statewide and in each district, use of RCV complicates interpretation of the national popular vote because voters are more likely to vote for third-party or independent candidates.^[55]

On December 14, 2020, pledged electors for each candidate, known collectively as the United States Electoral College, gathered in their states' capitols to cast their official votes. Pursuant to the processes laid out by the Electoral Count Act of 1887, certificates of ascertainment listing the names of the electors and separate certificates recording their votes are distributed to various officials across the branches of government.^[56][57][58] The newly elected Congress, with the Vice President in his role as Senate President presiding, met in a joint session to formally open the certificates and count the votes, which began on January 6, 2021, was interrupted by the January 6 United States Capitol attack, and finished the following day.^[59]

This article is part of a series about Joe Biden
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This article is part of a series about Kamala Harris
Personal Early life Bibliography Smart on Crime Superheroes Are Everywhere The Truths We Hold Family Political positions Public image #KHive 27th District Attorney of San Francisco Elections 2003 2007 32nd Attorney General of California Tenure Elections 2010 2014 U.S. Senator from California 2016 election Legislation Justice for Victims of Lynching Act MORE Act Rent Relief Act 49th Vice President of the United States Incumbent Transition Biden administration inauguration Office of Gun Violence Prevention "You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?" Vice presidential campaigns 2020 election selection convention debate "We did it, Joe!" 2024 Presidential campaigns 2020 primaries endorsements 2024 election endorsements VP selection convention debates
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The Democratic Party chose its nominee in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. Joe Biden became the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party on June 5, 2020, when he secured enough delegates to ensure his nomination at the national convention.^[60] Biden picked Kamala Harris as his vice-presidential nominee, and the ticket was formally nominated at the convention on August 18.^[61]

2020 Democratic Party ticket
Joe Biden	Kamala Harris
for President	for Vice President
47th Vice President of the United States (2009–2017)	U.S. Senator from California (2017–2021)
Campaign

This article is part of a series about Donald Trump
Business and personal Business career The Trump Organization wealth tax returns Media career The Apprentice bibliography filmography Endorsements Eponyms Family Foundation American football Golf Honors Public image in popular culture SNL parodies handshakes Legal affairs Sexual misconduct allegations Nicknames pseudonyms Racial views Comments on John McCain Conspiracy theories Residences Rhetoric Security incidents 45th & 47th President of the United States Presidencies first second timeline Transitions first second Inaugurations first second Presidential library Tenure Executive actions executive orders proclamations pardons Trips foreign '17 '18 '19 '20–'21 Namaste Trump North Korea summits Singapore Hanoi DMZ Riyadh summit Helsinki summit Shutdowns January 2018 2018–2019 Polls Legal affairs Protests federal law enforcement deployment St. John's Church photo op Social media False or misleading statements Killings al-Baghdadi Soleimani Afghanistan withdrawal Trumpism TikTok controversy Policies Economy tax cuts tariffs China trade war farmer bailouts Environment Paris withdrawal Foreign policy America First Saudi Arabia arms deal Iran nuclear deal withdrawal Jerusalem Golan Heights Palestine peace plan Abraham Accords USMCA United States–Taliban deal Immigration travel ban wall family separation migrant detentions troop deployments national emergency Infrastructure Social issues First Step Act cannabis Space Appointments Cabinets first second Ambassadors first second Federal judges first second Gorsuch Kavanaugh Barrett Supreme Court candidates Executives first second U.S. Attorneys first second Presidential campaigns 2000 primaries 2016 election primaries endorsements rallies Las Vegas incident convention debates Make America Great Again Never Trump movement people Access Hollywood tape wiretapping allegations Spygate 2020 election primaries endorsements political non-political opposition rallies convention debates GOP reactions to election fraud claims Trump–Raffensperger phone call 2024 election primaries endorsements opposition eligibility Agenda 47 rallies convention debates assassination attempts PA perpetrator photographs FL suspect Impeachments Efforts resolutions First impeachment Trump–Ukraine scandal House inquiry Senate trial Second impeachment Capitol attack Senate trial Proposed expungements Civil and criminal prosecutions 2020 election federal indictment Classified documents federal indictment special counsel investigation Plasmic Echo FBI search of Mar-a-Lago Trump v. United States New York indictment Stormy Daniels scandal Karen McDougal affair financial fraud Georgia election indictment Georgia election investigation mug shot COVID-19 pandemic Taskforce Communication Government response stimulus bills CARES Act Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 Operation Warp Speed White House outbreak Interference with science agencies
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This article is part of a series about Mike Pence
Political positions Electoral history Vice President of the United States Transition Tenure Trump administration Inauguration COVID-19 pandemic White House Task Force White House outbreak Capitol attack Classified documents incident Governor of Indiana 2012 election Tenure Religious Freedom Restoration Act U.S. Representative for Indiana's 2nd and 6th districts Tenure 2024 presidential campaign Primaries Vice presidential campaigns 2016 selection convention election 2020 convention election
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Incumbent president Donald Trump and incumbent vice president Mike Pence were able to easily secure the nomination after Trump received enough delegates in the 2020 Republican presidential primaries. They were formally nominated at the Republican National Convention on August 24, 2020.^[62][63]

2020 Republican Party ticket
Donald Trump	Mike Pence
for President	for Vice President
45th President of the United States (2017–2021)	48th Vice President of the United States (2017–2021)
Campaign

Jo Jorgensen, who was the running mate of author Harry Browne in 1996, received the Libertarian nomination at the national convention on May 23, 2020.^[64] She achieved ballot access in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.^[65]

2020 Libertarian Party ticket
Jo Jorgensen	Spike Cohen
for President	for Vice President
Senior Lecturer at Clemson University	Podcaster and businessman

Howie Hawkins became the presumptive nominee of the Green Party on June 21, 2020, and was officially nominated by the party on July 11, 2020.^[66][67] Hawkins secured ballot access in 29 states and the District of Columbia, representing 381 electoral votes, and write-in access in 16 more states, representing 130 electoral votes.^[68][69][e]

2020 Green Party ticket
Howie Hawkins	Angela Walker
for President	for Vice President
Co-founder of the Green Party	ATU Local 998 Legislative Director (2011–2013)

Presidential candidate[f]		Vice presidential candidate[g]	Party or label[h]	Ballot access (including write-in)
				States/DC	Electors	Voters[4]
	Joe Biden	Kamala Harris	Democratic	51	538	100%
	Donald Trump	Mike Pence	Republican	51	538	100%
	Jo Jorgensen	Spike Cohen	Libertarian	51	538	100%
	Howie Hawkins	Angela Walker	Green	30 (46)	381 (511)	73.2% (95.8%)
	Gloria La Riva	Sunil Freeman	Socialism and Liberation	15 (33)	195 (401)	37.0% (76.1%)
	Rocky De La Fuente	Darcy Richardson	Alliance	15 (25)	183 (289)	34.7% (54.1%)
	Don Blankenship	William Mohr	Constitution	18 (30)	166 (305)	31.2% (56.8%)
	Brock Pierce	Karla Ballard	Independent	16 (31)	115 (285)	19.1% (50.1%)
	Brian Carroll	Amar Patel	American Solidarity	8 (39)	66 (463)	11.4% (87.7%)
	Jade Simmons	Claudeliah J. Roze	Becoming One Nation	2 (38)	15 (372)	2.7% (68.9%)

The 2020 Democratic National Convention was originally scheduled for July 13–16 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,^[71][72][73] but was delayed to August 17–20 due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[74] On June 24, 2020, it was announced that the convention would be held in a mixed online in-person format, with most delegates attending remotely but a few still attending the physical convention site.^[75] On August 5, the in-person portion of the convention was scaled down even further; major speeches, including Biden's, were switched to a virtual format.^[76]

The 2020 Republican National Convention took place from August 24–27 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and various remote locations. Originally, a three-day convention was planned to be held in North Carolina, but due to North Carolina's insistence that the convention follow COVID-19 social distancing rules, the speeches and celebrations were moved to Jacksonville, Florida (official convention business was still contractually obligated to be conducted in Charlotte).^[77][78] Due to the worsening situation with regards to COVID-19 in Florida, the plans there were cancelled, and the convention was moved back to Charlotte in a scaled-down capacity.^[79]

The 2020 Libertarian National Convention was originally scheduled to be held in Austin, Texas, over Memorial Day weekend from May 22 to 25,^[80][81] but all reservations at the JW Marriott Downtown Austin for the convention were cancelled on April 26 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[82] The Libertarian National Committee eventually decided the party would hold two conventions, one online from May 22–24 to select the presidential and vice-presidential nominees and one at a physical convention in Orlando, Florida, from July 8–12 for other business.^[83]

The 2020 Green National Convention was originally to be held in Detroit, Michigan, from July 9 to 12.^[73] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the convention was instead held online, without a change in date.^[84]

The House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump on two counts on December 18, 2019.^[85] The trial in the Senate began on January 21, 2020,^[86] and ended on February 5, resulting in acquittal by the United States Senate.^[87]

This is the second time a president has been impeached during his first term while running for a second term.^[88][i] Trump continued to hold campaign rallies during the impeachment.^[90][91] This is also the first time since the modern presidential primaries were established in 1911 that a president has been subjected to impeachment while the primary season was underway.^[92] The impeachment process overlapped with the primary campaigns, forcing senators running for the Democratic nomination to remain in Washington for the trial in the days before and after the Iowa caucuses.^[93][94]

Several events related to the 2020 presidential election were altered or postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and its effects, such as stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines by local governments. On March 10, following primary elections in six states, Democratic candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders cancelled planned campaign night events and further in-person campaigning and campaign rallies.^[95][96] On March 12, Trump also stated his intent to postpone further campaign rallies.^[97] The 11th Democratic debate was held on March 15 without an audience at the CNN studios in Washington, D.C.^[98] Several states also postponed their primaries to a later date, including Georgia,^[99] Kentucky,^[100] Louisiana,^[101] Ohio,^[102] and Maryland.^[103] As of March 24, 2020, all major-party presidential candidates had halted in-person campaigning and campaign rallies over COVID-19 concerns. Political analysts speculated at the time that the moratorium on traditional campaigning, coupled with the effects of the pandemic on the nation, could have unpredictable effects on the voting populace and possibly, how the election will be conducted.^{[104][105][106]}

Some presidential primary elections were severely disrupted by COVID-19-related issues, including long lines at polling places, greatly increased requests for absentee ballots, and technology issues.^[107] Due to a shortage of election workers able or willing to work during the pandemic, the number of polling places was often greatly reduced. Most states expanded or encouraged voting by mail as an alternative, but many voters complained that they never received the absentee ballots they had requested.^[108]

The March 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act included money for states to increase mail-in voting. By May, Trump and his campaign strongly opposed mail-in voting, claiming that it would cause widespread voter fraud, a belief that has been discredited by a number of media organizations.^[109][110] Government response to the impact of the pandemic from the Trump administration, coupled with the differing positions taken by congressional Democrats and Republicans regarding economic stimulus, became a major campaign issue for both parties.^[111][112]

On April 6, the Supreme Court and Republicans in the State Legislature of Wisconsin rebuffed Wisconsin governor Tony Evers's request to move the state's spring elections to June. As a result, the elections, which included a presidential primary, went ahead on April 7 as planned.^[113] At least seven new cases of COVID-19 were traced to this election. Voting-rights advocates expressed fear of similar chaos on a nationwide scale in November, recommending states move to expand vote-by-mail options.^[114]

On June 20, 2020, Trump's campaign held an in-person rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the event could go ahead despite continuing concerns over COVID-19.^[115] Attendance at the rally was far lower than expected, being described as a "flop", and it led to a significant worsening of relations between Trump and his campaign manager, Brad Parscale.^[116] 7.7 million people watched the event on Fox News, a Saturday audience record for that channel.^[117] Three weeks after the rally, the Oklahoma State Department of Health recorded record numbers of cases of COVID-19,^[118] and former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain died of the virus, although it was not confirmed that he caught the disease due to his attendance at the rally.^[119]

On October 2, 2020, Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 following a positive test from his senior advisor, Hope Hicks, as part of the larger COVID-19 outbreak among White House personnel. Both the president and first lady immediately entered quarantine, which prevented Trump from further campaigning, notably at campaign rallies.^{[120][121][122]} Later that day, the President was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with a low grade fever, where he was reported to have received an experimental antibody treatment.^[123][124] Trump's diagnosis came only two days after he had shared the stage with Biden at the first presidential debate and raised the possibility that Biden had caught the virus from Trump; Biden tested negative.^[125][126] Trump was discharged from the hospital on October 5.^[127]

Trump being diagnosed with COVID-19 was widely seen as having a negative effect on his campaign and shifted the attention of the public back onto COVID-19, an issue which is generally seen as a liability for Trump, due to his response to the COVID-19 pandemic suffering from low approval ratings.^[128][129] Being in quarantine also meant Trump was unable to attend rallies, which were a major part of his campaign. As a result of Trump contracting COVID-19, Biden continued campaigning but temporarily ceased running attack ads against him.^[130][131] On October 12, one week after his discharge from the hospital, Trump resumed in-person rallies.^[127] Trump continued to travel to battleground states and hold mass rallies, sometimes two or three in a day. His rallies were criticized for their lack of social distancing or mask wearing, and some polls suggested that voters saw him less favorably for potentially endangering attendees.^[132][133]

U.S. officials accused Russia, China, and Iran of trying to influence the 2020 United States elections.^[134][135] On October 4, 2019, Microsoft announced that "Phosphorus", a group of hackers linked to the Iranian government, had attempted to compromise e-mail accounts belonging to journalists, U.S. government officials and the campaign of a U.S. presidential candidate.^[136][137] The American Government owned Voice of America reported in April 2020 that "Internet security researchers say there have already been signs that China-allied hackers have engaged in so-called 'spear-phishing' attacks on American political targets ahead of the 2020 vote." Chinese spokesman Geng Shuang denied the allegations and said he would "hope the people of the U.S. not drag China into its electoral politics".^[138]

On February 13, 2020, American intelligence officials advised members of the House Intelligence Committee that Russia was interfering in the 2020 election in an effort to get Trump re-elected.^[139][140] The briefing was delivered by Shelby Pierson, the intelligence community's top election security official and an aide to acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire. On February 21, The Washington Post reported that, according to unnamed U.S. officials, Russia was interfering in the Democratic primary in an effort to support the nomination of Senator Bernie Sanders. Sanders issued a statement after the news report, saying in part, "I don't care, frankly, who Putin wants to be president. My message to Putin is clear: stay out of American elections, and as president, I will make sure that you do."^[141] Sanders acknowledged that his campaign was briefed about Russia's alleged efforts about a month prior.^[142] In a February 2020 briefing to the House Intelligence Committee, U.S. intelligence officials warned Congress that Russia was interfering in the 2020 campaign to support Trump's reelection campaign; Trump was angered that Congress had been informed of the threat, and the day after the briefing castigated the acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, for allowing the briefing to go forward.^[143][144] China and some government-linked Chinese individuals have been accused of interfering in the election to support the candidacy of both Biden and Trump,^[145] though whether it is actually doing so is disputed among the intelligence community.^[144][146]

On October 21, threatening emails were sent to Democrats in at least four states. The emails warned, "You will vote for Trump on Election Day or we will come after you."^[147] Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe announced that evening that the emails, using a spoofed return address, had been sent by Iran. He added that both Iran and Russia are known to have obtained American voter registration data, possibly from publicly available information, and "This data can be used by foreign actors to attempt to communicate false information to registered voters that they hope will cause confusion, sow chaos and undermine your confidence in American democracy." A spokesman for Iran denied the allegation.^[148] In his announcement, Ratcliffe said Iran's intent had been "to intimidate voters, incite social unrest, and damage President Trump", raising questions as to how ordering Democrats to vote for Trump would be damaging to Trump. It was later reported that the reference to Trump had not been in Ratcliffe's prepared remarks as signed off by the other officials on the stage; he had added it on his own.^[149] On November 18, 2021, the Justice Department charged two Iranian hackers with attempting to intimidate American voters ahead of the 2020 U.S. election by sending threatening emails and spreading false information.^[150]

Throughout the election period, several Colombian lawmakers and the Colombian ambassador to the United States issued statements supporting the Donald Trump campaign, which has been viewed as potentially harmful to Colombia–United States relations.^[151][152] On October 26, the U.S. Ambassador to Colombia, Philip Goldberg, requested that Colombian politicians abstain from getting involved in the elections.^[153]

The Department of Justice is investigating whether the Trump Victory Committee accepted a $100,000 donation from Malaysian businessman and international fugitive Jho Low, who is accused of being the mastermind behind the multibillion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal involving a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, 1MDB.^[154][155]

Government officials and American corporate security officers braced for a repeat of 2016's election infrastructure hacking and similar twenty-first century attacks, and in fact conducted what were characterized as preemptive counter-strikes on botnet infrastructure which might be used in large-scale coordination of hacking,^[156] and some incidents earlier in the year appeared to foreshadow such possibilities. Nonetheless, after his dismissal, in a December 2020 interview, Chris Krebs, the Trump administration's director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), described monitoring Election Day from CISA's joint command center along with representatives from the military's United States Cyber Command, the National Security Agency (NSA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Secret Service (USSS), the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), representatives of vendors of voting machine equipment, and representatives of state and local governments, as well as his agency's analysis preceding and after that day, saying, "It was quiet. There was no indication or evidence that there was any sort of hacking or compromise of election systems on, before, or after November third."^[157] Responding to spurious claims of foreign outsourcing of vote counting as a rationale behind litigation attempting to stop official vote-counting in some areas, Krebs also affirmed that, "All votes in the United States of America are counted in the United States of America."^[157]

Acts of foreign interference included Russian state-directed application of computational propaganda approaches, more conventional state-sponsored Internet propaganda, smaller-scale disinformation efforts, "information laundering" and "trading up the chain" propaganda tactics employing some government officials, Trump affiliates, and US media outlets.^[158]

During the campaign, Trump indicated in Twitter posts, interviews, and speeches that he might refuse to recognize the outcome of the election if he were defeated; Trump falsely suggested that the election would be rigged against him.^{[159][160][161]} In July 2020, Trump declined to answer whether he would accept the results, just as he did in the 2016 presidential election, telling Fox News anchor Chris Wallace that "I have to see. No, I'm not going to just say yes. I'm not going to say no."^{[162][163][164][165]} Trump repeatedly claimed that "the only way" he could lose would be if the election was "rigged" and repeatedly refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power after the election.^[166][167] Trump also attacked mail-in voting throughout the campaign, falsely claiming that the practice contains high rates of fraud;^{[168][169][170]} at one point, Trump said, "We'll see what happens ... Get rid of the ballots and you'll have a very peaceful – there won't be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation."^[171] Trump's statements have been described as a threat "to upend the constitutional order".^[172] In September 2020, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, who was appointed by Trump, testified under oath that the FBI has "not seen, historically, any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it's by mail or otherwise".^[173]

A number of congressional Republicans insisted they were committed to an orderly and peaceful transition of power, but declined to criticize Trump for his comments.^[174] On September 24, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution affirming the Senate's commitment to a peaceful transfer of power.^[175] Trump also stated he expected the Supreme Court to decide the election and that he wanted a conservative majority in case of an election dispute, reiterating his commitment to quickly install a ninth justice following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.^[176]

In April 2020, Biden predicted that Trump would try to delay the election, saying he "is gonna try to kick back the election somehow, come up with some rationale why it can't be held".^[177][178] In May, Jared Kushner did not rule out delaying the election, saying "I’m not sure I can commit one way or the other".^[179] On July 30, Trump tweeted that "With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history" and proposed that the election should be delayed. Asked whether Trump had the relevant authority, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said "the United States Department of Justice will make that determination."^[180] However, only Congress has the power to schedule elections,^[181][182] and the Constitution sets the end of the presidential and vice-presidential terms at January 20, a hard deadline which can only be altered by constitutional amendment.^[183][184] Congress refused to consider Trump's proposal,^[185][186] and the election went ahead as scheduled.

Postal voting in the United States has become increasingly common, with 25% of voters mailing their ballots in 2016 and 2018. By June 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was predicted to cause a large increase in mail voting because of the possible danger of congregating at polling places.^[188] An August 2020 state-by-state analysis concluded that 76% of Americans were eligible to vote by mail in 2020, a record number. The analysis predicted that 80 million ballots could be cast by mail in 2020 – more than double the number in 2016.^[189]

The Postal Service sent a letter to multiple states in July 2020, warning that the service would not be able to meet the state's deadlines for requesting and casting last-minute absentee ballots.^[190] In addition to the anticipated high volume of mailed ballots, the prediction was due in part to numerous measures taken by Louis DeJoy, the newly installed United States Postmaster General, including banning overtime and extra trips to deliver mail,^[191] which caused delays in delivering mail,^[192] and dismantling and removing hundreds of high-speed mail sorting machines from postal centers.^[193] On August 18, after the House of Representatives had been recalled from its August break to vote on a bill reversing the changes, DeJoy announced that he would roll back all the changes until after the November election. He said he would reinstate overtime hours, roll back service reductions, and halt the removal of mail-sorting machines and collection boxes.^[194]

The House of Representatives voted an emergency grant of $25 billion to the post office to facilitate the predicted flood of mail ballots.^[195] Although Trump has repeatedly denounced mail voting, he has mailed in ballots due to being in a different state than the one where he votes at the time of the election.^[196] In August 2020, Trump conceded that the post office would need additional funds to handle the additional mail-in voting, but said he would block any additional funding for the post office to prevent any increase in balloting by mail.^[197]

In the end, an estimated 42 percent of votes were cast by mail across 41 reporting states,^[198] approximately 65.6 million ballots out of 154.6 million cast by all methods.^[199]

The Trump campaign filed lawsuits seeking to block the use of official ballot dropboxes in Pennsylvania in locations other than an election office, and also sought to "block election officials from counting mail-in ballots if a voter forgets to put their mail-in ballot in a secrecy sleeve within the ballot return-envelope".^[200] The Trump campaign and the Republican Party both failed to produce any evidence of vote-by-mail fraud after being ordered by a federal judge to do so.^[200]

On Election Day, a judge ordered mail inspectors to search "mail facilities in .... key battleground states" for ballots.^[201] The agency refused to comply with the order and nearly 7% of ballots in USPS facilities on Election Day were not processed in time.^[202]

The Federal Election Commission, which was created in 1974 to enforce campaign finance laws in federal elections, has not functioned since July 2020 due to vacancies in membership. In the absence of a quorum, the commission cannot vote on complaints or give guidance through advisory opinions.^[203] As of May 19, 2020, there were 350 outstanding matters on the agency's enforcement docket and 227 items waiting for action.^[204] As of September 1, 2020, Trump had not nominated anyone to fill the FEC vacancies.^[205]

On September 18, 2020, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell immediately said the precedent he had set regarding the Merrick Garland nomination was inoperative and that a replacement would be voted on as soon as possible, setting the stage for a confirmation battle and an unexpected intrusion into the campaign.^[206] The death of Justice Ginsburg resulted in large increases in momentum for both the Democrats and Republicans.^[207][208] The president,^[209] vice president,^[210] and several Republican members of Congress said a full Supreme Court bench was needed to decide the upcoming election.^[211][212]

On September 26, the day after Justice Ginsburg's body lay in state at the Capitol, Trump held a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House to announce and introduce his candidate, Amy Coney Barrett.^[213] After four days of confirmation hearings, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted the nomination out of committee on October 22,^[214] and on October 26, Barrett was confirmed on a party-line vote of 52–48, with no Democrats voting for her confirmation.^[215] This was the closest Supreme Court confirmation ever to a presidential election, and the first Supreme Court nomination since 1869 with no supporting votes from the minority party.^[215] It was also one of the fastest timelines from nomination to confirmations in U.S. history.^[216][217]

By September 2020, several hundred legal cases relating to the election had been filed.^[218] About 250 of these had to do with the mechanics of voting in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[218] The Supreme Court ruled on a number of these cases,^[219] primarily issuing emergency stays instead of going through the normal process due to the urgency.^[220] In October 2020, there was speculation that the election might be decided through a Supreme Court case, as happened following the 2000 election.^[221][222]

On October 11, 2019, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) announced that three general election debates would be held in the fall of 2020.^[223]

The first, moderated by Chris Wallace, took place on September 29, and was co-hosted by Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.^[224] The debate was originally to be hosted at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, but the university decided against holding the debate as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[224][225] Biden was generally held to have won the first debate,^{[226][227][228]} with a significant minority of commentators deeming it a draw.^[229][230]

One exchange that was particularly noted was when Trump did not directly denounce the white supremacist and neo-fascist group Proud Boys, instead responding that they should "stand back and stand by".^{[231][232][233]} On the next day, Trump told reporters the group should "stand down" while also claiming that he was not aware of what the group was.^[234][235] The debate was described as "chaotic and nearly incoherent" because of Trump's repeated interruptions, causing the CPD to consider adjustments to the format of the remaining debates.^[236]

The vice presidential debate was held on October 7, 2020, at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.^[237] The debate was widely held to be subdued, with no clear victor.^[238][239] One incident that was particularly commented on was when a fly landed on vice-president Pence's head, and remained there unbeknownst to him for two minutes.^[240][241]

The second debate was initially set to be held at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but the university withdrew in June 2020, over concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.^[242] The planned debate was rescheduled for October 15 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami; due to Trump contracting COVID-19, the CPD announced on October 8 that the debate would be held virtually, in which the candidates would appear from separate locations. Trump refused to participate in a virtual debate, and the commission subsequently announced that the debate had been cancelled.^[243][244]

The third scheduled debate took place on October 22 at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and was moderated by Kristen Welker.^[245][246] The changes to the debate rules, which included the candidates' microphones being muted while the other was speaking,^[247] resulted in it being generally considered more civil than the first debate.^[248] Welker's performance as moderator was praised, with her being regarded as having done a good job preventing the candidates from interrupting each other.^[249] Biden was generally held to have won the debate, though it was considered unlikely to alter the race to any considerable degree.^{[250][251][252]}

Debates for the 2020 U.S. presidential election sponsored by the CPD

No.	Date	Time	Host	City	Moderator(s)	Participants	Viewership (millions)
P1	September 29, 2020	9:00 p.m. EDT	Case Western Reserve University	Cleveland, Ohio	Chris Wallace	Donald Trump Joe Biden	73.1[253]
VP	October 7, 2020	7:00 p.m. MDT	University of Utah	Salt Lake City, Utah	Susan Page	Mike Pence Kamala Harris	57.9[254]
(P2)[j]	October 15, 2020	9:00 p.m. EDT	Arsht Center (planned)	Miami, Florida	Steve Scully (planned)	Donald Trump Joe Biden	N/A
P2	October 22, 2020	8:00 p.m. CDT	Belmont University	Nashville, Tennessee	Kristen Welker	Donald Trump Joe Biden	63[256]

The Free & Equal Elections Foundation held two debates with various third party and independent candidates, one on October 8, 2020, in Denver, Colorado,^[257] and another on October 24, 2020, in Cheyenne, Wyoming.^[258]

The following graph depicts the standing of each candidate in the poll aggregators from September 2019 to November 2020. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, had an average polling lead of 7.9 percentage points over incumbent President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. Biden would win the national popular vote by 4.4 percentage points.

Polling aggregates

Active candidates

Joe Biden (Democratic)

Donald Trump (Republican)

Others/Undecided

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden
Source of poll aggregation	Dates administered	Dates updated	Joe Biden	Donald Trump	Other/Undecided[k]	Margin
270 to Win[259]	Oct 28 – Nov 2, 2020	Nov 2, 2020	51.1%	43.1%	5.8%	Biden +8.0
RealClear Politics[260]	Oct 25 – Nov 2, 2020		51.2%	44.0%	4.8%	Biden +7.2
FiveThirtyEight[261]	until Nov 2, 2020		51.8%	43.4%		Biden +8.4
Average			51.4%	43.5%	5.1%	Biden +7.9
2020 results			51.3%	46.8%	1.9%	Biden +4.5

Calculated averages are not comparable to those for the Biden vs. Trump polls. As polling with third parties has been very limited, the polls included in the average are often different.

Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden vs. Jo Jorgensen vs. Howie Hawkins
Source of poll aggregation	Dates administered	Dates updated	Joe Biden	Donald Trump	Jo Jorgensen	Howie Hawkins	Other/ Undecided[k]	Margin
270 to Win[262]	Oct 23 – Nov 2, 2020	Nov 2, 2020	50.6%	43.2%	1.2%	1.0%	4.0%	Biden +7.4
RealClear Politics[263]	Oct 15 – Nov 2, 2020	Nov 2, 2020	50.6%	43.2%	1.8%	0.8%	3.6%	Biden +7.4
2020 results			51.3%	46.8%	1.1%	0.2%	0.6%	Biden +4.5

The following graph depicts the difference between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in each swing state in the poll aggregators from March 2020 to the election, with the election results for comparison.

Polls by state/district

New Hampshire

Minnesota

Wisconsin

Michigan

Nevada

Pennsylvania

Nebraska CD-2

Maine CD-2

Arizona

Florida

North Carolina

Georgia

Ohio

Texas

Iowa

Montana

Missouri

Alaska

South Carolina

Nebraska

Kansas

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Publisher	Date	Prediction
2016 result	Nov 8, 2016	D: 232, R: 306
2020 result	Nov 3, 2020	D: 306, R: 232
Cook Political Report	Oct 28, 2020[264]	D: 290, R: 125, Tossup: 123
Inside Elections	Oct 28, 2020[265]	D: 350, R: 125, Tossup: 63
Sabato's Crystal Ball	Nov 2, 2020[266]	D: 321, R: 217, Tossup: 0
Politico	Nov 2, 2020[267]	D: 279, R: 163, Tossup: 96
RealClearPolitics	Oct 29, 2020[268]	D: 216, R: 125, Tossup: 197
CNN	Nov 2, 2020[269]	D: 279, R: 163, Tossup: 96
The Economist	Nov 3, 2020[270]	D: 334, R: 164, Tossup: 40
CBS News	Nov 1, 2020[271]	D: 279, R: 163, Tossup: 96
270toWin	Nov 3, 2020[272]	D: 279, R: 163, Tossup: 96
ABC News	Nov 2, 2020[273]	D: 321, R: 125, Tossup: 92
NPR	Oct 30, 2020[274]	D: 279, R: 125, Tossup: 134
NBC News	Oct 27, 2020[275]	D: 279, R: 125, Tossup: 134
Decision Desk HQ	Nov 3, 2020[276]	D: 308, R: 163, Tossup: 67
FiveThirtyEight	Nov 2, 2020[277]	D: 334, R: 169, Tossup: 35[l]

OpenSecrets estimated the total cost of the 2020 election nearly $14 billion, making it the most expensive election in history and twice as expensive as the previous presidential election cycle.^[278]

The COVID-19 pandemic was a major issue of the campaign, with Trump's responses being heavily criticized. The president spread mixed messages on the value of wearing face masks as protection, including criticizing Biden and reporters for wearing them, but has also encouraged their use at times.^[279] During the campaign, Trump held many events across the country, including in COVID-19 hotspots, where attendees did not wear masks and were not socially distancing; at the same time, he mocked those who wore face masks.^{[280][281][282]}

Biden advocated for the expansion of federal funding, including funding under the Defense Production Act for testing, personal protective equipment, and research.^[283] Trump also invoked the Defense Production Act to control the distribution of masks and ventilators,^[284] but his response plan relied significantly on a vaccine being released by the end of 2020.^[283] At the second presidential debate, Trump claimed Biden had called him xenophobic for restricting entry from foreign nationals who had visited China, but Biden responded that he had not been referring to this decision.^[285]

Trump claimed credit for the consistent economic expansion of his presidency's first three years, with the stock market at its longest growth period in history and unemployment at a fifty-year low. Additionally, he has touted the 2020 third-quarter rebound, in which GDP grew at an annualized rate of 33.1%, as evidence of the success of his economic policies.^[286] Biden responded to Trump's claims by repeating that the strong economy under Trump's presidency was inherited from the Obama administration, and that Trump has aggravated the economic impact of the pandemic, including the need for 42 million Americans to file for unemployment.^[287]

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which lowered income taxes for many Americans and lowered the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, were a major component of Trump's economic policy. Biden and the Democrats generally describe these cuts as unfairly benefiting the upper class. Biden plans to raise taxes on corporations and those making over $400,000 per year, while keeping the reduced taxes on lower-income brackets and raise capital gains taxes to a maximum bracket of 39.6%. In response, Trump said Biden's plans would destroy retirement accounts and the stock market.^[288]

Trump and Biden's views on environmental policy differ significantly. Trump stated that climate change is a hoax, although he also called it a serious subject.^[289] Trump condemned the Paris Agreement on greenhouse gas reduction and began the withdrawal process. Biden planned to rejoin it and announced a $2 trillion plan to combat climate change. Biden had not fully accepted the Green New Deal. Biden did not plan to ban fracking but rather to outlaw new fracking on federal land. In a debate, Trump claimed Biden wanted to ban it altogether. Trump's other environmental policies included the removal of methane emission standards, and an expansion of mining.^[290]

Health care was a divisive issue in both the Democratic primary campaign and the general campaign. While Biden, as well as other candidates, promised protection of the Affordable Care Act, progressives within the Democratic Party advocated to replace the private insurance industry with Medicare for All. Biden's plan involves adding a public option to the American healthcare system,^[291] and the restoration of the individual mandate to buy health care, which was removed from the Affordable Care Act by the 2017 tax cut bill,^[292] as well as restoring funding for Planned Parenthood. Trump announced plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, calling it "too expensive", but he did not say what would replace it.^[293] At the time of the election, the Trump administration and Republican officials from 18 states had a lawsuit before the Supreme Court, asking the court to repeal the Affordable Care Act.^[294]

As a result of the murder of George Floyd and other incidents of police brutality against African Americans, combined with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a series of protests and a wider period of racial unrest erupted in mid-2020. This was followed by the Black Lives Matter movement, which protested police brutality against black people, and became a central point of the 2020 presidential campaign.^[295] Protests were mostly peaceful; fewer than 4% involved property damage or violence (with most of the latter directed at BLM protesters themselves).^[296] According to a September 2020 estimate, arson, vandalism, and looting caused about $1–2 billion in insured damage between May 26 and June 8, making this initial phase of the George Floyd protests the civil disorder event with the highest recorded damage in United States history.^[297][298]

In response, Trump and the Republicans suggested sending in the military to counter the protests, which was criticized, especially by Democrats, as heavy-handed and potentially illegal.^[299] Trump referred to Black Lives Matter protesters confronting diners in a restaurant as "thugs",^[300] and called a street painting of the slogan a "symbol of hate".^[301] Particularly controversial was a photo-op Trump took in front of St. John's Church in Washington, D.C., before which military police had forcefully cleared peaceful protestors from the area.^[292] Biden condemned Trump for his actions against protestors; he described George Floyd's words "I can't breathe" as a "wake-up call for our nation". He also promised he would create a police oversight commission in his first 100 days as president, and establish a uniform use of force standard, as well as other police reform measures.^[302]

More than 158 million votes were cast in the election.^[303] More than 100 million of them were cast before Election Day by early voting or mail ballot, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.^[304] The election saw the highest voter turnout as a percentage of eligible voters since 1900,^[305] with each of the two main tickets receiving more than 74 million votes, surpassing Barack Obama's record of 69.5 million votes from 2008.^[306] The Biden–Harris ticket received more than 81 million votes, the most votes ever in a U.S. presidential election.^[10][11] It was also the ninth consecutive presidential election where the victorious major party nominee did not receive a popular vote majority by a double-digit margin over the losing major party nominee(s), continuing the longest sequence of such presidential elections in U.S. history, which began in 1988 and in 2016 eclipsed the previous longest sequence, that from 1876 through 1900.^{[307][note 1][308]} In 2020, 58 percent of U.S. voters lived in landslide counties,^[309] a decline from 61 percent in 2016.^[310]

Trump became the 11th incumbent in the country's history, and the first since 1992, to lose a bid for a second term. Biden's 51.3% of the popular vote was the highest for a challenger to an incumbent president since 1932.^{[311][312][313][m]} Biden is the sixth vice president to become president without succeeding to the office on the death or resignation of a previous president.^[314] Additionally, Trump's loss marked the third time an elected president lost the popular vote twice, the first being John Quincy Adams in the 1820s and Benjamin Harrison in the 1880s and 1890s.^[315] This was the first time since 1980, and the first for Republicans since 1892 that a party was voted out after a single four-year term. This was the second election in American history in which the incumbent president lost re-election despite winning a greater share of the popular vote than he did in the previous election, after 1828. It is also the third election in which the two candidates that received electoral votes carried the same number of states. This also happened in 1880 and 1848.

Biden won 25 states, the District of Columbia, and one congressional district in Nebraska, totaling 306 electoral votes. Trump won 25 states and one congressional district in Maine, totaling 232 electoral votes. This result was exactly the reverse of Trump's victory, 306 to 232, in 2016 (excluding faithless electors).^[316] Biden became the first Democrat to win the presidential election in Georgia since 1992 and in Arizona since 1996,^[19] and the first candidate to win nationally without Florida since 1992 and Ohio since 1960, casting doubt on Ohio's continued status as a bellwether state.^[317] Biden carried five states won by Trump in 2016: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. He also became the first Democrat since 2008 to carry Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, winning one electoral vote from the state. Trump did not win any states won by Clinton in 2016. Biden's three gains in the Rust Belt—Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin—were widely characterized as a rebuilding of the blue wall, a term widely used in the press for the states consistently won by Democrats from 1992 to 2012, broken by Trump in 2016 when he narrowly flipped those three Rust Belt states.^{[318][319][320][321]} Nevertheless, amidst Trump's national and electoral defeat, his scoring decisive victories in Ohio, Iowa, and Florida for the second time, after their having backed Obama twice, has led many commentators to conclude they have shifted from perennial swing states to reliable red states.^[322][323]

In light of the attempts to contest the election results, an important question is how many votes would have had to change in particular states in order to produce a different Electoral College outcome. If Biden's three narrowest state victories—Wisconsin, Georgia, and Arizona, all of which he won by less than a percentage point—had gone to Trump, there would have been a tie of 269 electors for each candidate,^[324][325] causing a contingent election to be decided by the House of Representatives, where Trump had the advantage. (Even though Democrats controlled the House, contingent elections are determined by state delegations in which each state receives just one vote, and since a slight majority of states in 2020 contained more Republican than Democratic representatives, Republicans would have had more votes in such an election.) This scenario would have required a popular-vote shift of 0.63% or less in each of these three states, a total of about 43,000 votes, 0.03% of votes cast nationally.^[326] This situation paralleled 2016, when a shift of 0.77% or less in each of the three most closely contested states (Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania), or about 77,000 votes, would have resulted in the popular vote winner Hillary Clinton also winning in the Electoral College.

This was the first time since 1948 that Democrats won the popular vote in four elections in a row. Biden was the second former vice president (after Richard Nixon in 1968) to win the presidency, as well as the first vice president since George H. W. Bush in 1988 to be elected president.^[327]

Almost all counties previously considered reliable indicators of eventual success in presidential elections voted for Trump instead of Biden, meaning that they did not continue their streaks as bellwether counties. This was attributed to increasing political polarization throughout the country and to the urban-rural divide.^[328]

While Trump still dominated rural America as a whole, there were rural areas that he lost. Biden won 50.5% of the rural counties that each had mostly non-white voters, particularly in the South and the West.^[329] Rural counties in the South won by Biden had greater economic distress than those won by Trump; in the Northeast, the opposite was true.^[329] In the West, Biden did especially well in rural counties that had high shares of workers employed in leisure and hospitality.^[329] Such counties likewise had large constituencies of immigration from other states.^[329] Biden became the oldest president ever elected, besting Ronald Reagan's record in 1984, and the oldest non-incumbent ever, besting Trump in 2016, however, both records were broken by Trump in 2024. Of the 3,153 counties/districts/independent cities making returns, Trump won the most popular votes in 2,595 (82.30%) while Biden carried 558 (17.70%).

Major news organizations project a state for a candidate when there is high mathematical confidence that the outstanding vote would be unlikely to prevent the projected winner from ultimately winning the state. Election projections are made by decision teams of political scientists and data scientists.^[18]

In the early hours of November 4, the Associated Press called Florida for Donald Trump at 12:35 a.m. EST, putting him at 164 electoral votes. By 1:06 a.m. EST, they called Texas for Trump, putting him at 202 electoral votes, compared to Joe Biden's 224. Arizona and Maine were called for Biden at 2:51 a.m. and 3:06 a.m. EST, respectively. At 1:24 p.m. EST that afternoon, the Associated Press called Maine's 2nd Congressional District for Trump, giving him 203 electoral votes. Then, Biden won Wisconsin and Michigan, at 2:16 p.m. and 3:58 p.m. EST, respectively, bringing him to 264 electoral votes, just 6 short of the presidency. On the morning of November 7 at approximately 11:25 a.m. EST, roughly three and a half days after polls had closed, ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, the Associated Press, CNN, and Fox News all called the election and Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes for Biden, based on projections of votes in Pennsylvania showing him leading outside of the recount threshold (0.5% in that state), placing him at 284 electoral votes.^{[330][331][332][333][334][335][336]} That evening, Biden and Harris gave victory speeches in Wilmington, Delaware.^[337]

On the invitation of the U.S. State Department, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), which has been monitoring U.S. elections since 2002 (as it does for major elections in all other OSCE member countries), sent 102 observers from 39 countries.^{[338][339][340]} The task force consisted of long-term observers from the ODIHR office (led by former Polish diplomat Urszula Gacek) deployed to 28 states from September on and covering 15 states on election day, and a group of European lawmakers acting as short-term observers (led by German parliamentarian Michael Georg Link), reporting from Maryland, Virginia, California, Nevada, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin, and D.C.^[338][340] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was scaled down to a "limited election observation mission" from the originally planned 100 long-term observers and 400 short-term observers.^[338]

An interim report published by the OSCE shortly before the election noted that many ODIHR interlocutors "expressed grave concerns about the risk of legitimacy of the elections being questioned due to the incumbent President's repeated allegations of a fraudulent election process, and postal vote in particular."^[338][341] On the day after the election, the task force published preliminary findings,^[339] with part of the summary stating:

The 3 November general elections were competitive and well managed despite legal uncertainties and logistical challenges. In a highly polarized political environment, harsh campaign rhetoric fuelled tensions. Measures intended to secure the elections during the pandemic triggered protracted litigation driven by partisan interests. The uncertainty caused by late legal challenges and evidence-deficient claims about election fraud created confusion and concern among election officials and voters. Voter registration and identification rules in some states are unduly restrictive for certain groups of citizens. The media, although sharply polarized, provided comprehensive coverage of the campaign and made efforts to provide accurate information on the organization of elections.^[342]

Link said that "on the election day itself, we couldn't see any violations" at the polling places visited by the observers.^[339] The task force also found "nothing untoward" while observing the handling of mail-in ballots at post offices, with Gacek being quoted as saying: "We feel that allegations of systemic wrongdoing in these elections have no solid ground. The system has held up well."^[340] The OSCE's election monitoring branch published a more comprehensive report in early 2021.^[340][343]

Candidates are listed individually below if they received more than 0.1% of the popular vote. Popular vote totals are from the Federal Election Commission report.^[1]

Electoral results

Presidential candidate	Party	Home state	Popular vote		Electoral vote	Running mate
			Count	Percentage		Vice-presidential candidate	Home state	Electoral vote
Joe Biden	Democratic	Delaware	81,283,501	51.31%	306	Kamala Harris	California	306
Donald Trump (incumbent)	Republican	Florida	74,223,975	46.85%	232	Mike Pence (incumbent)	Indiana	232
Jo Jorgensen	Libertarian	South Carolina	1,865,535	1.18%	0	Spike Cohen	South Carolina	0
Howie Hawkins	Green	New York	407,068	0.26%	0	Angela Nicole Walker	South Carolina	0
Other			649,552	0.41%	—	Other		—
Total			158,429,631	100%	538			538
Needed to win					270			270

Legend

States won by Biden/Harris
States won by Trump/Pence
EV	Electoral votes
†	At-large results (for Maine and Nebraska, which both split electoral votes)

Two states, Maine and Nebraska, allow their electoral votes to be split between candidates by congressional districts. The winner of each congressional district gets one electoral vote for the district. The winner of the statewide vote gets two additional electoral votes.^[349][350]

• Arizona
• Georgia
• Michigan
• Nebraska's 2nd congressional district
• Pennsylvania
• Wisconsin

States where the margin of victory was under 1% (37 electoral votes; all won by Biden):

1. Georgia, 0.23% (11,779 votes) – 16 electoral votes
2. Arizona, 0.31% (10,457 votes) – 11 electoral votes
3. Wisconsin, 0.63% (20,682 votes) – 10 electoral votes (tipping-point state for Biden victory)^[324]

States where the margin of victory was between 1% and 5% (86 electoral votes; 42 won by Biden, 44 by Trump):

1. Pennsylvania, 1.16% (80,555 votes) – 20 electoral votes (tipping-point state for Trump victory)^[325]
2. North Carolina, 1.35% (74,483 votes) – 15 electoral votes
3. Nevada, 2.39% (33,596 votes) – 6 electoral votes
4. Michigan, 2.78% (154,188 votes) – 16 electoral votes
5. Florida, 3.36% (371,686 votes) – 29 electoral votes

States/districts where the margin of victory was between 5% and 10% (80 electoral votes; 17 won by Biden, 63 by Trump):

1. Texas, 5.58% (631,221 votes) – 38 electoral votes
2. Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, 6.50% (22,091 votes) – 1 electoral vote
3. Minnesota, 7.11% (233,012 votes) – 10 electoral votes
4. New Hampshire, 7.35% (59,267 votes) – 4 electoral votes
5. Maine's 2nd congressional district, 7.44% (27,996 votes) – 1 electoral vote
6. Ohio, 8.03% (475,669 votes) – 18 electoral votes
7. Iowa, 8.20% (138,611 votes) – 6 electoral votes
8. Maine, 9.07% (74,335 votes) – 2 electoral votes

Blue denotes states or congressional districts won by Democrat Joe Biden; red denotes those won by Republican Donald Trump.

Counties with highest percentage of Democratic vote:^[351]

1. Kalawao County, Hawaii – 95.8%^[352]
2. Washington, D.C. – 92.15%
3. Prince George's County, Maryland – 89.26%
4. Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota – 88.41%
5. Petersburg, Virginia – 87.75%

Counties with highest percentage of Republican vote:

1. Roberts County, Texas – 96.18%
2. Borden County, Texas – 95.43%
3. King County, Texas – 94.97%
4. Garfield County, Montana – 93.97%
5. Glasscock County, Texas – 93.57%

• 
  Results by state, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote
• 
  Results by county
• 
  Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote
• 
  A discontinuous cartogram of the 2020 United States presidential election
• 
  A continuous county-level cartogram of the 2020 United States presidential election
• 
  County swing from 2016 to 2020
• 
  Election results by congressional district
• 
  Shaded election results by county (red-purple-blue scale)
• 
  States shaded by margin of victory
• 
  Counties shaded by margin of victory
• 
  Results by state, shaded according to percentage of the vote for Jo Jorgensen

Voter demographic data for 2020 were collected by Edison Research for the National Election Pool, a consortium of ABC News, CBS News, MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, and the Associated Press. The voter survey is based on exit polls completed by 15,590 voters in person as well as by phone.^[353]

2020 presidential election voter demographics (exit polling)^[354]

Demographic subgroup	Biden	Trump	% of total vote
Total vote	51	47	100
Ideology
Liberals	89	10	24
Moderates	64	34	38
Conservatives	14	85	38
Party
Democrats	94	6	37
Republicans	6	94	36
Independents	54	41	26
Gender
Men	45	53	48
Women	57	42	52
Marital status
Married	45	53	56
Unmarried	58	40	44
Gender by marital status
Married men	43	55	30
Married women	48	51	26
Unmarried men	52	45	20
Unmarried women	62	36	23
Race/ethnicity
White	41	58	67
Black	87	12	13
Latino	65	33	13
Asian	63	36	4
Other	55	41	4
Gender by race/ethnicity
White men	38	61	35
White women	44	55	32
Black men	79	19	4
Black women	90	9	8
Latino men	59	36	5
Latina women	69	30	8
Other	58	38	8
Religion
Protestant/Other Christian	39	60	43
Catholic	52	47	25
Jewish	76	22	2
Other religion	68	29	8
None	65	31	22
White evangelical or born-again Christian
Yes	24	76	28
No	62	36	72
Age
18–24 years old	65	31	9
25–29 years old	54	43	7
30–39 years old	51	46	16
40–49 years old	54	44	16
50–64 years old	47	52	30
65 and older	47	52	22
Age by race
White 18–29 years old	44	53	8
White 30–44 years old	41	57	14
White 45–59 years old	38	61	19
White 60 and older	42	57	26
Black 18–29 years old	88	10	3
Black 30–44 years old	78	19	4
Black 45–59 years old	89	10	3
Black 60 and older	92	7	3
Latino 18–29 years old	69	28	4
Latino 30–44 years old	62	35	4
Latino 45–59 years old	68	30	3
Latino 60 and older	58	40	2
Others	59	38	8
Sexual orientation
LGBT	75	23	7
Non-LGBT	51	48	93
First time voter
Yes	64	32	14
No	49	49	86
Education
High school or less	46	54	19
Some college education	51	47	23
Associate degree	47	50	16
Bachelor's degree	51	47	27
Postgraduate degree	62	37	15
Education by race
White college graduates	51	48	32
White no college degree	32	67	35
Non-white college graduates	70	27	10
Non-white no college degree	72	26	24
Education by race/gender
White women with college degrees	54	45	14
White women without college degrees	36	63	17
White men with college degrees	48	51	17
White men without college degrees	28	70	18
Non-White	71	26	33
Income
Under $30,000	54	46	15
$30,000–49,999	56	44	20
$50,000–99,999	56	42	39
$100,000–199,999	41	57	20
Over $200,000	48	48	7
Union households
Yes	56	41	20
No	50	49	80
Military service
Veterans	44	54	15
Non-veterans	53	45	85
Issue regarded as most important
Racial inequality	92	7	20
COVID-19 pandemic	81	16	17
Economy	16	82	35
Crime and safety	27	71	11
Health care	62	37	11
Region
East	58	40	20
Midwest	47	51	23
South	46	53	35
West	57	41	22
Area type
Urban	60	38	29
Suburban	50	48	51
Rural	42	57	19
Family's financial situation today
Better than four years ago	26	72	41
Worse than four years ago	77	20	20
About the same	65	34	39
Abortion should be
Legal in all/most cases	74	24	55
Illegal in all/most cases	23	76	45
Climate change is a serious problem
Yes	69	29	67
No	15	84	30

The Brookings Institution released a report entitled "Exit polls show both familiar and new voting blocs sealed Biden's win" on November 12, 2020. In it, author William H. Frey attributes Obama's 2008 win to young people, people of color, and the college-educated. Frey contends Trump won in 2016 thanks to older White without college degrees.^[355] Frey says the same coalitions largely held in 2008 and 2016, although in key battleground states Biden increased his vote among some of the 2016 Trump groups, particularly among White and older Americans.^[355] Trump won the white vote in 2016 by 20% but in 2020 by only 16%. The Democratic Party won black voters by 75%, the lowest margin since 1980. Democrats won the Latino vote by 32%, which is the smallest margin since 2004, and they won the Asian American vote by 27%, the lowest figure since 2008.^[355] Biden reduced the Republican margin of white men without college educations from 48% to 42%, and the Democrats made a slight improvement of 2% among white, college-educated women. People age 18 to 29 registered a rise in Democratic support between 2016 and 2020, with the Democratic margin of victory among that demographic increasing from 19% to 24%.^[355]

Post-election analysis using verified voter data found the Associated Press's Votecast was more accurate than the exit polls.^[356][357]

Biden won 65% of the Latino vote according to Edison Research, and 63% according to the Associated Press. Voto Latino reported that the Latino vote was crucial to the Biden victory in Arizona. 40% of Latino voters who voted in 2020 did not vote in 2016, and 73% of those Latino voters voted for Biden (438,000 voters).^[358] Florida and Texas, which have large Latino populations, were carried by Trump. In Florida, Trump won a majority of Cuban American voters in Miami-Dade County, Florida.^[359] The Latino vote was still crucial to enable Biden to carry states such as Nevada.^[360] Latino voters were targeted by a major Spanish-language disinformation campaign in the final weeks of the election, with various falsehoods and conspiracy theories being pushed out by WhatsApp and viral social media posts.^{[361][362][363]}

Demographic patterns emerged having to do with country of origin and candidate preference. Pre- and post-election surveys showed Biden winning Latinos of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican,^[364] and Spanish heritage,^[365] while Trump carried Latinos of Cuban heritage. Data from Florida showed Biden holding a narrow edge among South Americans.^[366]

Biden won 87% of the Black vote, while Trump won 12%.^[367] Biden's advantage among Black voters was crucial in the large cities of Pennsylvania and Michigan; the increase in the Democratic vote in Milwaukee County of about 28,000 votes was more than the 20,000-vote lead Biden had in the state of Wisconsin. Almost half Biden's gains in Georgia came from the four largest counties – Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, and Cobb – all in the Atlanta metro area with large Black populations.^[368] Trump improved his overall share of the Black vote from 2016 by 4% and doubled the Black vote that Mitt Romney received in 2012.^{[369][370][367]}

Polls showed that 68% of Asian American and Pacific Island (AAPI) voters supported Biden/Harris, while 28% supported Trump/Pence. Karthick Ramakrishnan, a political science professor at the University of California Riverside and founder of AAPI Data, said Asian Americans supported Biden over Trump by about a 2:1 margin. Korean Americans, Japanese Americans, Indian Americans, and Chinese Americans favored Biden by higher margins overall compared to Vietnamese Americans and Filipino Americans.^[371] Many voters were turned off by Trump's language some of which was widely considered racist such as ("China virus" and "kung flu") but, according to Vox reporter Terry Nguyen, many Vietnamese voters (and especially elderly, South Vietnamese migrants who populated coastal centers in the 1970s) appreciated his strong anti-China stance.^[372]

Data from FiveThirtyEight indicated 65% of Indian American voters backed Joe Biden, and 28% supported Donald Trump.^[371] Some Indian Americans self-identified with Kamala Harris, but others approved of Donald Trump's support of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.^[373] In a speech given to 50,000 Indian-Americans during his 2019 visit to the US, Modi praised Trump with remarks that were interpreted as an indirect endorsement of his candidacy.^[374] Indian right-wing organizations like the Hindu Sena had performed special havans and pujas for Trump's electoral victory.^[375]

Pre-election voter surveys by Indian Country Today found 68% of American Indian and Alaska Native voters supporting Democratic nominee Joe Biden.^[376] In particular, the Navajo Reservation, which spans a large quadrant of eastern Arizona and western New Mexico, delivered up to 97% of their votes per precinct to Biden,^[377] while overall support for Biden was between 60 and 90% on the Reservation.^[378] Biden also posted large turnout among Havasupai, Hopi, and Tohono O'odham peoples,^[379] delivering a large win in New Mexico and flipping Arizona.

In Montana, while the state went for Trump overall, Biden won counties overlapping reservations of the Blackfeet, Fort Belknap, Crow and Northern Cheyenne.^[380] The same pattern held in South Dakota, with most of the counties overlapping the lands of the Standing Rock Sioux, Cheyenne River Sioux, Oglala Sioux, Rosebud Sioux and Crow Creek tribes going for Biden. For example, in Oglala Lakota County, which overlaps with the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Biden won 88% of the vote.^[380]

Trump's strongest performance among Native tribes was with the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, where he won a strong majority in Robeson County and flipped Scotland County from Democratic to Republican.^[381] Trump had campaigned in Lumberton, in Robeson County, and had promised the Lumbees federal recognition.^[381]

Although polls generally predicted the Biden victory, the national polls overestimated him by three to four points, and some state polling was even further from the actual result and greater than 2016's error (one or two points).^[382] The numbers represented the highest level of error since the 1980 presidential election.^[383] This polling overestimation also applied in several Senate races, where the Democrats underperformed by about five points relative to the polls,^[384] as well as the House elections, where Republicans gained seats instead of losing as polls predicted. Most pollsters underestimated support for Trump in several key battleground states, including Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas, and Wisconsin. The discrepancy between poll predictions and the actual result persisted from the 2016 election despite pollsters' attempts to fix problems with polling in 2016, in which they underestimated the Republican vote in several states. The imprecise polls led to changes in campaigning and fundraising decisions for both Democrats and Republicans.^[382]

According to The New York Times, polling misses have been attributed to, among other issues, reduced average response to polling; the relative difficulty to poll certain types of voters; and pandemic-related problems, such as a theory which suggests Democrats were less willing to vote in person on Election Day than Republicans for fear of contracting COVID-19.^[382] According to CNN, research presented to the American Association for Public Opinion Research indicated one of the primary problems was an inability by pollsters to include a certain segment of Trump supporters, either due to inaccessibility or lack of participation.^[383] New Statesman data journalist Ben Walker pointed to Hispanics as a historically difficult group to poll accurately, leading to pollsters underestimating the level of Trump support within the demographic group.^[385] Election analyst Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight argued that the polling error in 2020 was normal by historical standards.^[386]

Siena College Research Institute reported that a significant source of polling error was the discounting of partial responses by "mistrustful Trump supporters" who "yelled" at their callers; when someone would "say 'I'm voting for Trump—fuck you,' and then hang up before completing the rest of the survey," it would not be counted as a response. Such "partials" made up "nearly half of Siena's error rate."^[387]

Election night, November 3, ended without a clear winner, as many state results were too close to call and millions of votes remained uncounted, including in the battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada.^[388] Results were delayed in these states due to local rules on counting mail-in ballots.^[389] Mail-in ballots became particularly prevalent in the 2020 election due to the widespread outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over roughly 67 million mail-in ballots were submitted, over doubling the previous election's 33.5 million.^[390] In