Who is the president if election results are unknown by January 20, 2021? (2020)

This article covers subjects specific to the 2020 general election. It has not been updated to reflect subsequent developments.
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Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution states that a president is elected to serve a four-year term. The current presidential term officially ends on January 20, 2021. Even if the election results are not finalized by that date, President Donald Trump (R) will no longer be president, and Vice President Mike Pence (R) will no longer be vice president. What happens next would depend on several factors.

In one scenario, the results of the presidential election would be unknown because no candidate received a majority of the vote in the Electoral College. In that case, the Twelfth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution holds that the House of Representatives elects the president, and the Senate elects the vice president. If the House fails to elect a president by March 4, 2021, the Twelfth Amendment requires that the vice president assume the office of president.

In a second scenario, the question of whether a candidate has won the Electoral College is taken up in the courts, and the issue remains unresolved past January 20. The presidential line of succession, established in 3 U.S. Code § 19, part of the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, lays out who would assume the role should there be a vacancy in the offices of both president and vice president. The outcome depends on whether a new Congress has been sworn in by January 20.

If a new Congress has been sworn in, the next in line would be the speaker of the House of Representatives, currently Nancy Pelosi (D). If re-elected to both her seat and the speakership, she would serve as acting president until the election is decided. The Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution requires that each new Congress convene on January 3, unless the previous Congress passed a law that set a different date.

If a new Congress has not been sworn in by January 20, there would be no serving House. There would be a partial Senate, however, made up of the 65 senators whose seats were not up for election. After the speaker of the House, the next in line to serve as president is the president pro tempore of the Senate. In a partial Senate, Democrats would hold a majority with 35 seats and control the chamber. The most senior member of the majority party—Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) in this scenario—would become president pro tem and serve as acting president.

A third possibility is that a partial new Congress would be sworn in while the rest of the election results were being finalized. There is no precedent for this, and it is unclear how it would operate. Any of these situations would likely lead to court challenges.

The nearest the U.S. has ever come to being without a president on Inauguration Day was in 1876. In that year, several southern states had contested vote counts and sent multiple slates of electors. A special Electoral Commission set up by Congress decided the election three days before Inauguration Day. In more recent history, the 2000 presidential race came down to disputed results in Florida. That case went to the Supreme Court, which issued their ruling on December 12.

Next question: What happens if there is a tie in the Electoral College?

The 2020 election took place against a backdrop of uncertainty. Our readers had questions about what to expect in elections at all levels of government, from the casting of ballots to the certification of final results. Ballotpedia's 2020 Election Help Desk was designed to answer those questions.

More frequently asked questions about the 2020 election

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• General election information
  • Who runs elections in the United States?
  • Why do states have different election rules?
  • What methods do states use to prevent election fraud?
  • Do you have to vote for everything on your ballot?
  • What happens if you mark outside the lines or use the wrong pen/pencil?
  • What is a spoiled ballot?
  • What is a write-in candidate?
  • How can I check the status of my ballot?
  • Can I take a ballot selfie?

• Presidential election
  • What happens if a presidential candidate declares victory in the 2020 election before results are final?
  • Can presidential candidates win the election if they have already conceded?
  • What are the steps and deadlines for electing the President of the United States?
  • What happens if there is a tie in the Electoral College?
  • What are faithless electors in the Electoral College?
  • What happens if a presidential nominee becomes incapacitated before the election?
  • Can members of Congress object to Electoral College results?

• Processing and counting absentee/mail-in ballots
  • What is the life cycle of an absentee/mail-in ballot?
  • What happens if I vote by mail and want to change my ballot at a later date?
  • What happens if someone votes by mail and then tries to vote in person?
  • How do states protect and verify absentee/mail-in ballots?
  • How do election workers match signatures?
  • Are results reported on election night coming from in-person or absentee/mail-in votes?
  • Do states report how many mail-in/absentee ballots are outstanding on election night?
  • Do absentee/mail-in ballots take longer to count than in-person ballots?
  • What happens if someone votes by mail-in ballot or absentee ballot and subsequently passes away before Election Day?

• Disputing election results
  • How will election recounts work?
  • How close does an election have to be to trigger an automatic recount?
  • Can a candidate or voter request a recount?
  • Who pays for recounts and contested elections?
  • What are poll watchers?
  • What does it mean to challenge a voter's eligibility, and who can do it?
  • What is a redo election?
  • Who can file election-related lawsuits?
  • What are the reasons to call a redo election?
  • Who can call a redo election?
  • Can a redo be held for a presidential election?

• Election result reporting and certification
  • What happens if candidates declare victory in the 2020 election before results are final?
  • Can candidates win an election if they have already conceded?
  • How and when are election results finalized?
  • How do major media outlets declare winners?

• Transitions of power and taking office
  • Who is the president if election results are unknown by January 20, 2021?
  • Who serves in Congress if election results are unknown by January 2021?
  • Who serves in a state or local government if election results are unknown?
  • What happens if the winning presidential candidate becomes incapacitated before taking office?

• Articles about potential scenarios in the 2020 election
• U.S. Supreme Court actions affecting the November 3, 2020, general election

See also

• Presidential election, 2020
• Electoral College

Related articles

• Associated Press, "Vision 2020: What happens if the US election is contested?", September 16, 2020
• New York Times, "How Does the Electoral College Work and Why Does It Matter?", October 4, 2020
• Associated Press, "Delays in verifying mail-in ballots will slow election tally," October 4, 2020
• The Federalist, "We Gamed Out The 2020 Election And Found Our Constitution Can Handle The Madness," October 19, 2020