Ballotpedia's 2020 Election Help Desk
Click here for more information about our 2020 election coverage.
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| Use the buttons below to see Help Desk hubs for other years. 2022 »
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Disputed results Presidential election lawsuits and recounts Post-election lawsuits | |
| Frequently asked questions General questions Presidential election Processing/counting mail ballots Results and certification Disputing results • Officeholder transitions | |
| Absentee/mail-in voting analysis Mail-in voting by state, 2016-2018 Mail-in rejection by state, 2016-2018 Uncalled races, 2018 When can states begin counting? Processing, counting, and challenging ballots | |
| Voting in 2020 Absentee/mail-in voting • Early voting • Voter ID Poll opening and closing times Recount laws by state Recount margin requirements by state U.S. Supreme Court actions | |
| Elections by state | |
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.
Help Desk information on disputed elections includes:
Help Desk Frequently Asked Question topics include:
- General information
- The Presidential election
- Processing and counting absentee/mail-in ballots
- Election results and certification
- Disputing election results
- Transitions of power and taking office
More Help Desk resources and analysis:
- Processing, counting, and challenging mail ballots in the 50 states
- Analysis of absentee/mail-in voting, 2016-2018
- Mail-in ballot rejection by state, 2016-2018
- Uncalled races on election night in the 2018 elections
We will continue to add more articles and questions to this help desk hub. If you have a question you'd like to see answered, contact our team.
Disputed elections
Presidential lawsuits and recounts
This article lists November 2020 presidential election results that became the subject of a dispute. It shows both active and completed recounts and post-election lawsuits. It does not include a comprehensive list of all election-related lawsuits.
Post-election lawsuits
This article lists all lawsuits filed in the aftermath of November 3, 2020, elections. Only filed lawsuits are included on this page; rumors or threats about filing lawsuits are not.
Frequently Asked Questions
General information
Election rules and processes vary widely among states and localities. The following are frequently asked questions related to election administration in the United States:
- 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 write-in candidate?
- How can I check the status of my ballot?
- Who can I contact with questions about voting?
- Can I take a ballot selfie?
Presidential election
Americans will elect the next president of the United States on November 3, 2020. Four candidates have qualified to appear on enough state ballots to win a majority—at least 270 electoral votes—in the Electoral College. The following are frequently asked questions related to the 2020 presidential election:
- Who is the president if election results are unknown by January 20, 2021?
- What happens if there is a tie in the Electoral College?
- What happens if a presidential nominee becomes incapacitated before the election?
- What happens if the winning presidential candidate becomes incapacitated before taking office?
- What are faithless electors in the Electoral College?
- What are the steps and deadlines for electing the President of the United States?
- 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?
- Can members of Congress object to Electoral College results?
Processing and counting absentee/mail-in ballots
Absentee or mail-in voting is voting that did not happen in person on Election Day but instead occurred another way (generally by mail). The following are frequently asked questions related to 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?
- Do absentee/mail-in ballots take longer to count than in-person ballots?
- 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?
- What happens if someone votes by mail-in ballot or absentee ballot and subsequently passes away before Election Day?
Election result reporting and certification
In a canvass, election officials verify that each ballot cast in the election was correctly counted. Certification is the process by which the results of an election are made official. The two processes are closely related, and the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. The following are frequently asked questions related to election results reporting and certification:
- How and when are election results finalized?
- How will election recounts work?
- 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 do major media outlets declare winners?
Disputing results
An election dispute refers broadly to any action that questions the results or processes of an election. An election could be disputed because it is subject to a recount, because ballots cast in the election have been challenged, or because the results of the election are legally contested. The following are frequently asked questions related to disputing election results:
- What are poll watchers?
- 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?
- Who can file election-related lawsuits?
- What is a redo election?
- What are the reasons to call a redo election?
- Who can call a redo election?
- Can a redo be held for a presidential election?
- What kinds of issues can election-related lawsuits address?
Transitions of power and taking office
At the end of one term of office and beginning of another, there is a transition of power between the outgoing official and the newly elected official. The following are frequently asked questions related to officeholder transitions:
- 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?
Absentee/mail-in voting analysis
Analysis of absentee/mail-in voting, 2016-2018
This page provides a comparison of the percentage of counted ballots by mail in the 2016 and 2018 elections by state.[1] For seventeen states, the percentage increased in 2018 compared to 2016 and for twenty-eight, the percentage decreased. Five states had incomplete or anomalous data, making a comparison inaccurate.[2]
Mail-in rejection by state, 2016-2018
This page provides a comparison of the percentage of rejected absentee/mail-in ballots by mail in the 2016 and 2018 elections by state. For thirty-five states, the percentage increased in 2018 compared to 2016 and for nine, the percentage decreased. Five states had no change and one—Vermont—had incomplete data and was excluded.
Uncalled races on election night in the 2018 elections
Twenty-two U.S. Senate, House, and gubernatorial elections were not called on election night in 2018. This page provides an analysis of those races using the length of time they remained uncalled, their eventual margins of victory, and the percentage of mail-in votes in each state. Our analysis suggests that races with larger margins of victory are more likely to remain uncalled after election night when more than half of voting took place by-mail than when more voting occurred in person. The length of time before a race is called after election night appears to be contingent more so upon the eventual margin of victory than the share of mail-in votes.
Articles about potential scenarios in the 2020 election
In the weeks and months before the 2020 election, public officials, authors, and pundits speculated about the effect that changes to election procedures prompted in part by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic might have on the election's administration and outcome. This article catalogs and preserves those various possible scenarios and hypotheses. The article will be updated as additional scenarios are put forth or identified. If you are aware of scenarios that should be included, please email us.
Recently added articles include:
- Nov. 2, 2020:
- Alex Ward, "Why the risk of post-election violence in the US is higher than at any time in recent memory," Vox
- Josh Robin, "Election 2020: What Happens if Neither Party Gives Up?" Bay News 9
- Nov. 1, 2020:
- Ian MacDougall, "Why Bush v. Gore Still Matters in 2020," ProPublica
- Oct. 30, 2020:
- Benjamin Ginsberg and Bob Bauer, "Trust our electoral system. It’s built to handle challenges like this." The Washington Post
- Oct. 27, 2020:
Voting information by state
Click a state on the map below to read information about voting procedures in that state.
See also
- Voting in 2020
- Absentee/mail-in voting, 2020
- Early voting dates, 2020
- State Poll Opening and Closing Times (2020)
Footnotes
- ↑ The number of ballots cast often differs from the number of ballots counted since states can reject ballots for a variety of reasons ranging from failing to provide a signature to using the incorrect return envelope. This analysis focuses on ballots counted rather than ballots cast.
- ↑ Those states were Oregon, Mississippi, South Dakota, Vermont, and Hawaii.