2020 United States presidential election

<a href="/facts/United_States_presidential_election/kHjebjsW">Presidential elections</a> were held in the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a> on November 3, 2020. The <a href="/facts/Democratic_Party_(United_States)/MNe3nDrL">Democratic</a> ticket of former vice president <a href="/facts/Joe_Biden/fe2ThfUp">Joe Biden</a> and California junior senator <a href="/facts/Kamala_Harris/hqeaVyFQ">Kamala Harris</a> defeated the incumbent <a href="/facts/Republican_Party_(United_States)/XXM1EVPr">Republican</a> president <a href="/facts/Donald_Trump/pqqKY21P">Donald Trump</a> and vice president <a href="/facts/Mike_Pence/yF3PHK7L">Mike Pence</a>. The election saw the highest <a href="/facts/Voter_turnout_in_United_States_presidential_elections/QflAD1K9">voter turnout</a> by percentage <a href="/facts/1900_United_States_presidential_election/xgIGUfcJ">since 1900</a>. Biden received more than 81 million votes, the <a href="/facts/List_of_United_States_presidential_candidates_by_number_of_votes_received/1FvTvXzM">most votes ever cast</a> for a presidential candidate in U.S. history.
In a competitive primary that featured the most candidates for any political party in the <a href="/facts/Sixth_Party_System/WYJNpF9S">modern era of American politics</a>, Biden secured the <a href="/facts/2020_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries/Sh8d81yH">Democratic presidential nomination</a>. Biden's running mate, Harris, became the first African-American, first Asian-American, and third female vice presidential nominee on a major party ticket. Trump secured re-nomination, getting a total of 2,549 delegates, one of the most in <a href="/facts/United_States_presidential_primary/TIWuAe0v">presidential primary</a> history, in the <a href="/facts/2020_Republican_Party_presidential_primaries/gMVbkI73">Republican primaries</a>. <a href="/facts/Jo_Jorgensen/lvKpj2zt">Jo Jorgensen</a> secured the <a href="/facts/2020_Libertarian_Party_presidential_primaries/9Y3pKRW0">Libertarian presidential nomination</a> with <a href="/facts/Spike_Cohen/NwzpI6Uj">Spike Cohen</a> as her running mate, and <a href="/facts/Howie_Hawkins/sWWqbXwA">Howie Hawkins</a> secured the <a href="/facts/2020_Green_Party_presidential_primaries/g1wp9q0v">Green presidential nomination</a> with <a href="/facts/Angela_Nicole_Walker/LeCRwDvt">Angela Nicole Walker</a> as his running mate.
The central issues of the election included the public health and <a href="/facts/Economic_impact_of_the_COVID-19_pandemic_in_the_United_States/ctje6mVM">economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic</a>; <a href="/facts/George_Floyd_protests/5dlbq6A3">civil unrest in reaction</a> to the police <a href="/facts/Murder_of_George_Floyd/xKSGNay8">murder of George Floyd</a>, the <a href="/facts/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States/rJHothwW">Supreme Court</a> following the <a href="/facts/Death_and_state_funeral_of_Ruth_Bader_Ginsburg/zQCtC3qM">death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg</a> and <a href="/facts/Amy_Coney_Barrett_Supreme_Court_nomination/fWkRBI3P">confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett</a>, and the future of the <a href="/facts/Affordable_Care_Act/5RW8EDo8">Affordable Care Act</a>. Due to the ongoing pandemic, a record number of ballots were <a href="/facts/Early_voting/EVs40H6D">cast early</a> and <a href="/facts/Postal_voting/y3SBegmo">by mail</a>. Thirty-eight states had over half of all votes cast using these methods, and only three states had fewer than 25%. As a result of a large number of mail-in ballots, some <a href="/facts/Swing_state/vQuDYWBK">swing states</a> saw delays in vote counting and reporting; this led to major news outlets delaying their projection of Biden and Harris as the <a href="/facts/Presidential_transition_of_Joe_Biden/DC9ebUpk">president-elect</a> and <a href="/facts/Vice_president-elect_of_the_United_States/XJHwnRcz">vice president-elect</a> until the morning of November 7, 2020.
Biden achieved victory in the <a href="/facts/United_States_Electoral_College/Uyko6bfl">Electoral College</a>, winning 306 electoral votes, while Trump received 232. Trump was the first president to lose re-election since <a href="/facts/George_H._W._Bush/Xk5UxRqp">George H. W. Bush</a> in <a href="/facts/1992_United_States_presidential_election/sj7PoYSy">1992</a>. Key to Biden's victory were his wins in the Democratic-leaning <a href="/facts/Rust_Belt/W91XSt7x">Rust Belt</a> states of <a href="/facts/2020_United_States_presidential_election_in_Michigan/4Y4ansFk">Michigan</a>, <a href="/facts/2020_United_States_presidential_election_in_Pennsylvania/WAodv5R5">Pennsylvania</a>, and <a href="/facts/2020_United_States_presidential_election_in_Wisconsin/6KhA2Lhh">Wisconsin</a>, which Trump narrowly carried in 2016 and whose combined 46 electoral votes were enough to swing the election to either candidate.
Before, during, and after Election Day, Trump and numerous other Republicans repeatedly made <a href="/facts/False_or_misleading_statements_by_Donald_Trump/nKTzFnqB">false claims</a> that widespread <a href="/facts/Electoral_fraud/Mrud2cLA">electoral fraud</a> had occurred and that only he had legitimately won the election. Attorney General <a href="/facts/William_Barr/z9zBuVGn">William Barr</a> and officials in each of the 50 states found no evidence of fraud (widespread or otherwise) or irregularities in the election. Although most resulting lawsuits were either dismissed or ruled against by numerous courts, Trump nonetheless <a href="/facts/Criminal_conspiracy/SFr9KxYy">conspired</a>: 33–53  with his <a href="/facts/Donald_Trump_2020_presidential_campaign/4D5I4RxV">campaign</a> team to <a href="/facts/Trump_fake_electors_plot/7A7lI92J">submit documents in several states</a> (all of which had been won by Biden) which <a href="/facts/Making_false_statements/qcythlHP">falsely claimed</a> to be legitimate electoral votes for President Trump and Vice President <a href="/facts/Mike_Pence/yF3PHK7L">Mike Pence</a>. After the submission of these documents, the Trump campaign intended that the <a href="/facts/Presiding_Officer_of_the_United_States_Senate/zrlmDtcd">presiding officer of the United States Senate</a>, either <a href="/facts/President_of_the_Senate_of_the_United_States/tYWUGv0A">President of the Senate</a> Pence or <a href="/facts/President_pro_tempore_of_the_United_States_Senate/nrrdUgSF">President pro tempore</a> <a href="/facts/Chuck_Grassley/bASuqX4d">Chuck Grassley</a>, would claim to have the unilateral power to reject <a href="/facts/United_States_Electoral_College/Uyko6bfl">electors</a> during the <a href="/facts/2021_United_States_Electoral_College_vote_count/A36WVcqv">January 6, 2021 vote counting session</a>; the presiding officer would reject all electors from the several states in which the Trump campaign had submitted false documents, leaving 232 votes for Trump and 222 votes for Biden, thereby <a href="/facts/Attempts_to_overturn_the_2020_United_States_presidential_election/Ycw1yIXv">overturning the election results</a> in favour of Trump. The plans for January 6 failed to come to fruition after Pence refused to follow the campaign's proposals. Trump nevertheless urged his supporters on January 6, 2021, to march to the <a href="/facts/United_States_Capitol/UFAR0zx8">Capitol</a> while the joint session of Congress was assembled there to count electoral votes and formalize Biden's victory, leading to <a href="/facts/January_6_United_States_Capitol_attack/hcF25Aqf">hundreds storming</a> the building and interrupting the electoral vote count;: 637–669  as a result, the House <a href="/facts/Second_impeachment_of_Donald_Trump/Xt9QEG3r">impeached Trump</a> for <a href="/facts/Incitement_of_insurrection/BN1jIxAb">incitement of insurrection</a> on January 13, 2021, making him the only federal officeholder in American history to be impeached twice. The Senate would later <a href="/facts/Second_impeachment_trial_of_Donald_Trump/UqgTzxxb">acquit him</a> for the second time on February 13, 2021, after he had already left office; while a majority of senators (57–43) voted to convict Trump, this fell short of the two-thirds requirement for removal as required under the United States Constitution. On January 7, Trump acknowledged the incoming administration without mentioning Biden's name. Biden and Harris were <a href="/facts/Inauguration_of_Joe_Biden/Nms0sFxk">inaugurated</a> on January 20, 2021; in a break from tradition, Trump did not attend his successor's inauguration. <a href="/facts/Federal_prosecution_of_Donald_Trump_(election_obstruction_case)/YxgdBtRn">Trump was indicted</a> in August 2023 on four counts for conspiring to overturn the results. The case was dismissed following Trump's victory in the <a href="/facts/2024_United_States_presidential_election/g70dUqvC">2024 presidential election</a>. Trump's actions in the aftermath of the election have been described as an attempted <a href="/facts/Self-coup_d%2527%25C3%25A9tat/Hb6uVgMa">self-coup d'état</a>.

2020 United States presidential election open-in-new

2020 United States presidential election