The Americans who went to the polls on election day did not actually elect the president directly.
Technically, 538 voters were voted, who meet in the state according to the system defined by the Constitution and vote for the president and vice president as soon as the full amount of the referendum is counted and verified. Voters will meet on Monday to cast their votes for the U.S. president.
These voters are collectively referred to as the Electoral College and then their votes are forwarded to the President of the Senate, who counts them in a joint session of Congress after the new year.
Here’s a look at some of the key dates from now until inauguration:
December 14
- Election votes: By law, this date is the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December. It falls on December 14 this year. Six days after the debates are settled, the electorates are said to meet in that state and vote for the president of the United States. Six lines of ballot are certified and sent to Washington. Many states have laws that require their voters to support the winner of their state’s election and may impose fines on unbelieving voters who go their own way.
December 23
- Election votes must arrive in Washington: Certified voter votes have nine days to get from their state to Capitol Hill.
January 3
- The new congress was sworn in: Members of the House and new members of the Senate take the oath at noon. This is the official start of the 117th Congress.
January 6
- Counted voter votes: Members of the House and the Senate all meet in the House Chamber. The President of the Senate (this is Vice President Mike Pence) presides over the meeting, and the election votes are read alphabetically and counted by two nominees from the House and the Senate. They then hand over their scales to Pence, who announces the results and listens to the objections. If there are objections, or somehow there are multiple ballot papers put forward by a state, the House and Senate will consider them separately to decide how these votes will be counted. There are 538 voter votes – one congressman and one senator, plus three in Washington DC. If no candidate gets 270, the 435 members of the House decide on the election. Each state receives a vote. The House is due to elect the president by noon on January 20th. If they don’t know, the vice president or the next person will be in the presidential row.
January 20
- Date of installation: A new president will take his oath at noon. In disputed elections, if the House has not elected a President but the Senate has elected a Vice-President, the elected Vice-President will be Acting President until the House makes an election. And if there is no elected president and no elected vice-president, the House appoints a president until one is elected.
