The following is a timeline of major events before, during, and after the 2020 United States presidential election, the 59th quadrennial United States presidential election, from November 2020 to January 2021. For prior events, see Timeline of the 2020 United States presidential election (2017–2019) and Timeline of the 2020 United States presidential election (January–October 2020).
President Donald Trump of the Republican Party, who was elected in 2016, was seeking reelection to a second term, against former vice president Joe Biden of the Democratic Party. The general election was held on November 3, with voters directly selecting their state's members to the U.S. Electoral College. On November 7, most national media organizations projected that Biden had clinched enough electoral votes to be named the U.S. president-elect. The formal voting by the Electoral College took place on December 14. The U.S. Congress then certified the electoral result on January 7, 2021, and Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20, 2021.
The invisible primary and debate period
The "invisible primary" is the first phase of any presidential contest, when hopefuls "test the waters" by forming PACS and "exploratory committees" in order to see if such an endeavor is worthwhile. This is followed by the formal announcement of candidacies, and a period of televised debates and other events prior to the beginning of delegate selection.
The primary and general election campaigns
There are three main parts to every election year. The primaries, where delegates to the party's quadrennial convention are selected, the conventions themselves, and the fall general election.
November 2020 For previous events, see Timeline of the 2020 United States presidential election (January–October 2020) November 1: Deadline for early in-person voting in Delaware, Florida, and New York. The Texas Supreme Court rejects a petition submitted by Texas state representative Steve Toth and two other Republican candidates running for office in Texas who were seeking to invalidate nearly 127,000 drive-thru votes in Harris County, Texas. Biden campaigns in Philadelphia. Harris campaigns in Gwinnett County, Georgia; Goldsboro, North Carolina; and Fayetteville, North Carolina. Trump holds rallies in Washington, Michigan; Dubuque, Iowa; Hickory, North Carolina; Rome, Georgia; and Opa-locka, Florida. For the third time in a week, this time in Georgia, hundreds of people who attended the rally are left stranded for hours in freezing temperatures. November 1–2: "Trump Train" caravans of the president's supporters block traffic along several highways and bridges across the country. Several people take to Twitter to point out that this is hypocritical when Trump and many other high-profile conservatives have previously denounced many liberal and civil rights protesters who have similarly blocked traffic on major highways and bridges. November 2: Deadline for mail-in ballots to be received by election officials in Louisiana. and Vermont Deadline for mail-in ballots to be postmarked in Alabama, Iowa, North Dakota, Ohio, and Utah. US District Judge Andrew Hanen rejects a federal lawsuit brought by Toth and his Texas Republican group seeking to invalidate the estimated 127,000 drive-thru votes in Harris County, Texas, ruling that they failed to prove an "evil motive". Biden campaigns in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Cleveland. Harris campaigns in Philadelphia, Lehigh Valley, and Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Trump holds rallies in Fayetteville, North Carolina; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Traverse City, Michigan; Kenosha, Wisconsin; and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Pence campaigns in Latrobe and Erie, Pennsylvania. November 3 (Election Day): Deadline for mail-in ballots to be received by election officials in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon (all-mail voting state), Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Deadline for mail-in ballots to be postmarked in Alaska, California, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia. Polling hours (all times given are in Eastern Standard Time (EST), or UTC−05:00): 12:30a.m.: Polls close in the New Hampshire midnight voting. Voters in Dixville Notch select Biden 5–0, while those in Millsfield vote for Trump 16–5. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hart's Location delays its traditional midnight voting to the daylight hours. 5:00a.m.: Polls close in Guam (8:00p.m. ChST (UTC+10:00)), whose presidential straw poll generally receives national media attention as an indicator of how the rest of the country may likely vote. 6:00a.m. to 12:00p.m.: Polls open across the 50 states and DC, with the last being Hawaii at 12p.m. EST/7a.m. HST 6:00p.m.: Polls close in the Eastern Time Zone sections of Indiana and Kentucky 7:00p.m.: Polls close in: Selected areas of New Hampshire The Eastern Time Zone sections of Florida The Central Time Zone sections of Indiana and Kentucky (6:00p.m. CST) All of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, and Vermont 7:30p.m.: Polls close in North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia 8:00p.m.: Polls close in: Selected areas of North Dakota (7:00p.m. CST, observed by the polling locations) The remaining areas of New Hampshire The Eastern Time Zone sections of Michigan The Central Time Zone sections of Florida, Kansas, South Dakota, and Texas (7:00p.m. CST) All of Alabama, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma (7:00p.m. CST), Tennessee (7:00p.m. CST / 8:00p.m. EST), Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Washington, D.C. 8:30p.m.: Polls close in Arkansas (7:30p.m. CST) 9:00p.m.: Polls close in: The remaining areas of North Dakota (7:00p.m. MST, observed by the polling locations) The Central Time Zone sections of Michigan (8:00p.m. CST) The Mountain Time Zone sections of Kansas, South Dakota, and Texas (7:00p.m. MST) All of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming (7:00p.m. MST), Nebraska (7:00p.m. MST / 8:00p.m. CST), Louisiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin (8:00p.m. CST), and New York 10:00p.m.: Polls close in: The Mountain Time Zone sections of Idaho and Oregon (8:00p.m. MST) All of Nevada (7:00p.m. PST), Montana, Utah (8:00p.m. MST), and Iowa (9:00p.m. CST) 11:00p.m.: Polls close in: The Pacific Time Zone sections of Idaho and Oregon (8:00p.m. PST) All of California and Washington (8:00p.m. PST) Judge Sullivan orders the US Postal Service to immediately sweep mail facilities in 12 areas in key swing states to find missing, undelivered mail-in ballots, but the USPS replies that it cannot follow the order during this busy Election Day and conducts its preplanned inspection schedule instead. Under a lawsuit filed by several civil rights groups, the USPS had previously reported to Sullivan that about 300,000 ballots that had entered its system had not been scanned as delivered. After 7:00p.m.: With some states counting their absentee and early voting ballots first, while other states waiting to process those ballots last, the first reported totals in some areas show "blue mirages" or "red mirages" that initially break heavily for Biden or Trump, respectively, before they eventually flip the other way. 11:20p.m.: Fox News projects that Arizona is first state to flip from Trump in 2016 to Biden. Trump and members of his campaign immediately show displeasure with the traditionally pro-Trump news channel calling the state as only 73 percent of the state's vote had been reported. November 4: 12:00a.m.: Polls close in: The Alaska Time Zone sections of Alaska (November 3, 8:00p.m. AKST) All of Hawaii (November 3, 7:00p.m. HST) 12:30a.m.: With several states still too close to call, Biden addresses supporters and urges patience with the vote counting, saying that he is confident he is going to eventually win. 1:00a.m.: Polls close in the Hawaii–Aleutian Time Zone sections of Alaska. (November 3, 8:00p.m. HST) 2:30a.m.: Trump addresses supporters at the White House and references the ballots still remaining to be counted, saying "A very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise [those voters who voted for me] and we won't stand for it ... We'll be going to the US Supreme Court; we want all voting to stop. We don't want them to find any ballots at 4 in the morning, and add them to the list ... We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election." 2:50a.m.: The Associated Press also declares that Biden is the projected winner in Arizona. 9:00a.m.: Counting of absentee/mail-in ballots begins in many states. Afternoon: The Trump campaign announces the following throughout the afternoon: They are filing a lawsuit in Michigan to halt the vote counting until they are given "meaningful access" to observe the ballots at multiple counting locations. They also want to review all the ballots that have already been counted. They are requesting a recount in Wisconsin, as they trail Biden by less than 1 percent. Under Wisconsin law, any candidate may request a recount when the margin is that tight. They are filing a lawsuit in Georgia based on a Republican poll watcher's claims that they witnessed an election worker in Chatham County combining late-arriving ballots with ballots that arrived on time. Another lawsuit is being filed in Philadelphia challenging a policy that requires poll watchers to keep 25 feet away from the ballot counting. In response to Trump's challenges, "Count Every Vote" protesters begin marching through several cities. 6:00p.m.: The Associated Press projects that Biden has reached 264 electoral votes with wins in Michigan and Wisconsin (two more states that flipped from Trump in 2016 to Biden), meaning that he just needs one of the remaining uncalled swing states to reach the required 270 to win the election: Georgia (16), Nevada (6), North Carolina (15), or Pennsylvania (20). Despite the Associated Press and Fox News' projections, other national media outlets still list Arizona (11) as too close to call. Approximately 9:00p.m. to 12:00a.m. (7:00p.m. to 10:00p.m. MST): More than 200 Trump supporters protest at a Maricopa County, Arizona elections center and around downtown Phoenix, claiming some ballots have not been properly counted. This follows the Trump campaign's continuing belief that the state remains too close to call, and complaints that election officials provided voters with Sharpie pens that may have disqualified ballots. Counting inside the building eventually shuts down early. November 5: Speaking to reporters, Biden urges to remain calm and that "Democracy is sometimes messy". At a press conference at the White House, Trump continues claiming voter fraud without providing specific evidence. The Chatham County, Georgia Superior Court dismisses Trump's lawsuit over the handling of absentee ballots, ruling that "there is no evidence that the ballots referenced in the petition were received after 7pm on election day". The Michigan Court of Claims dismisses Trump's lawsuit to temporarily halt the ballot counting until Republican poll watchers have sufficient access to observe it. The state court rules on grounds that filing it against the Michigan Secretary of State was improper because the office is not directly involved with that part of the local counting process. In addition, "it was filed at 4:00, at which point the count had largely proceeded". The Nevada Republican Party sends a criminal referral to U.S. Attorney General Barr, alleging over 3,000 cases of voter fraud.