What Happened in the 2020 Presidential Election… Results, Key States, Suspected Voter-Fraud and the Transition of Power

November 7, 2020, Democratic nominee Joseph R. Biden was officially declared President-Elect. Following a stressful week for the nation and a much more stressful month of ballot counting for poll workers, the call was made by the Associated Press the first Saturday of the month, four days after Election Day. As of a December 9 update made by the Associated Press, Biden received 306 electoral votes, winning over 51.4% of the U.S. population, thus making him the first President-Elect to receive over 80 million votes in a single election. Trump trailed behind with 232 total electoral votes. 

While the election results have officially been called, confirming Biden as the 46th president of the United States, President Trump has proceeded to make baseless claims of voter fraud and misconduct on the part of the Democratic party. Trump continues to hold firm in his belief that he has won the election. 

In a statement to NPR on November 7 he claims, “The simple fact is this election is far from over. Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor.” 

President Trump made clear that this would not be the end of the news on the 2020 election as his campaign hired a legal team for $3 million to press charges against the states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia, all undecided and critical battlegrounds at the time. 

The New York Times released an update on the results of these key states saying, “From the start of Mr. Biden’s presidential campaign all the way to Election Day, he and his team believed that rebuilding the Democratic ‘blue wall’ in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania would perhaps be the clearest and cleanest path to winning the White House.”

This is exactly what Democrats did as all three states announced their votes for Biden. Nevada and Georgia would follow after recounts announcing they had flipped blue in a surprising turn of events. Trump won historically Republican states such as Florida, Texas and Iowa. 

Trump’s lawsuits over voter fraud in several key states would all be dismissed by state judges weeks after the results in all 50 states were called. 

As all of Trump Campaign’s attempts to block the Democratic win and remain in the White House have failed, the Biden team began its first steps towards a peaceful and effective transition, weeks after the election. The need for communication between Trump and Biden’s transition teams was imperative with the coronavirus pandemic only worsening. Yet in a final act to hold power, President Trump and his team denied Biden’s to important government documents and refused to cooperate. For the rest of November, Trump refused to concede even though he was strongly advised to do so by staff and members of his party. 

USA Today released the news of the Trump team’s compliance on November 23. “The General Services Administration, the body that holds the keys to transition funds and tools, cleared the way for Biden's team to get access to briefings, office space, secure computers and other government services needed for the transfer of power. Emily Murphy, who heads the GSA, made a formal recognition that Biden won the election in doing so.”

Now the Trump team has officially agreed to proceed with transitioning out of the White House, though Trump claims to have still won. President-Elect Biden and his team have begun their next steps to Inauguration Day announcing Cabinet picks and planning future actions once in power. 

December 8 marked the election safe harbor deadline and on Monday, December 14, the Electoral College officially cast their votes, confirming Biden’s 306 to 232 win.