What happens after the election is over?

Even though all ballots have been cast in the 2024 presidential election, the final results are not yet official. This year, the Electoral College for each state will meet Dec. 17 and place their votes for the president and vice president. 

After that election, Congress will convene Jan. 6 to count the votes and verify the results. Once the results are made official, the president-elect will be sworn into office Jan. 20.

This process of electing, certifying and then swearing in the new president is called the “transfer of power” because it represents removing authority from the previous or “lame duck” president and giving it to a new person.

What protections are in place to enforce this process?

The 20th Amendment, which was ratified in 1933, explicitly lays out many of the formal aspects of the transfer of power, from the dates when the transfers should occur to what should happen if the president or vice president-elect dies before the transfer.  

The Presidential Transition Act (PTA) of 1963, meanwhile, specifies even more events related to this transition, such as how the transition should be funded and what services the General Services Administration should provide to aid the transfer.

The PTA has been amended multiple times, most recently in 2022 to clarify the criteria used to determine the “apparent successful candidate” or candidates of the presidential election who would be eligible for transition support under the PTA.

Why is this process so important?

A system where leaders consistently and peacefully give up power is essential for the safety of a democratic nation. 

In American history, there have been multiple examples of when the transfer of power has been threatened or disrupted. The most notable disruption occurred in 1861, when the election of Abraham Lincoln led seven states to secede from the country, prompting the Civil War. 

More recently, the transfer of power was threatened Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters of the then-president Donald Trump entered the Capitol while Congress was certifying the results of the 2020 election, which President Joe Biden won with 306 electoral votes.