US election results 2020: Joe Biden's defeat of Donald Trump

Georgia recertifies election results, confirming Biden's victory, despite Trump's continued refusal to formally concede

JOE BIDEN

electoral college votes

81,281,888 votes

electoral college votes

74,223,251 votes

81,281,888 votes

74,223,251 votes

How does the election work?

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Joe Biden has been elected the 46th president of the United States

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Key states to watch

The race for the presidency is usually decided in a small number of key battleground states that switch party allegiance between elections.

Democrats

Republicans

Candidate Votes Percent
Joe Biden 1,672,143 49.4%
Donald Trump 1,661,686 49.1%
Jo Jorgensen 51,465 1.5%

Why does it matter?

Arizona last voted Democratic for President in 1996, but the state has become increasingly competitive as the Hispanic share of the electorate has grown. The Democrats managed to gain a number of seats in the 2018 midterms here.

Candidate Votes Percent
Donald Trump 5,668,731 51.2%
Joe Biden 5,297,045 47.9%
Jo Jorgensen 70,324 0.6%

Why does it matter?

Florida has voted with the eventual winner in all but one presidential election since 1964. It is also the swing state with the largest population and the most electoral college votes.

Candidate Votes Percent
Joe Biden 2,473,633 49.5%
Donald Trump 2,461,854 49.3%
Jo Jorgensen 62,229 1.2%

Why does it matter?

Long a Republican stronghold, southern Georgia has recently become more of a battleground state due to its growing black electorate. In the 2018 governor's election, Republican Brian Kemp defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams by just 1.4 percentage points.

Candidate Votes Percent
Joe Biden 2,804,040 50.6%
Donald Trump 2,649,852 47.8%
Jo Jorgensen 60,381 1.1%

Why does it matter?

Trump won Michigan by just 0.2 percentage points in 2016 – the narrowest margin of any state. In the six elections prior, the state consistently voted Democratic.

Who is controlling Congress?

Americans are also electing members to the two chambers of Congress, the main law-making body of the US. Those chambers are the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Without support in the Senate and the House, the president's ability to enact key policies is severely limited.

Democrats*

Republicans

* Includes 2 independents

Democrats

Republicans

Full Senate and House results

How does the election work?

The winner of the election is determined through a system called the electoral college. Each of the 50 states, plus Washington DC, is given a number of electoral college votes, adding up to a total of 538 votes. More populous states get more electoral college votes than smaller ones.

A candidate needs to win 270 electoral college votes (50% plus one) to win the election.

In every state except two – Maine and Nebraska – the candidate that gets the most votes wins all of the state's electoral college votes.

Due to these rules, a candidate can win the election without getting the most votes at the national level. This happened at the last election, in which Donald Trump won a majority of electoral college votes although more people voted for Hillary Clinton across the US.

How are the results reported?

The election results on this page are reported by the Associated Press (AP). AP "call" the winner in a state when they determine that the trailing candidate has no path to victory. This can happen before 100% of votes in a state have been counted.

Estimates for the total vote in each state are also provided by AP. The numbers update throughout election night, as more data on voter turnout becomes available.

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