Who Won the 2020 Presidential Election: Electoral Votes, Popular Vote and Certification Dates

Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election with 306 electoral votes to Donald Trump’s 232, according to the National Archives’ 2020 Electoral College results; a candidate needed 270 of the 538 electoral votes to win. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) lists the national popular vote at 81,268,924 for Biden and 74,216,154 for Trump, from state election office data.

A printable timeline of the dates below is on this page as a free PDF.

What were the 2020 electoral votes?

Candidate	Electoral votes	Popular votes	Share of votes
Joe Biden	306	81,268,924	51.31%
Donald Trump	232	74,216,154	46.86%

Sources: National Archives (electoral votes); FEC, “Official 2020 Presidential General Election Results” (popular votes and shares, 2020). The FEC reports 158,383,403 total votes.

The National Archives lists 538 electoral votes in total and 270 as the majority.

Did any state split its electoral votes?

Yes, two did. The National Archives notes that Maine’s four electoral votes were split for only the second time since the state adopted that system, and Nebraska’s five were split as well. The FEC results show Maine with 3 votes for Biden and 1 for Trump, and Nebraska with 1 for Biden and 4 for Trump.

When was the 2020 election certified?

The National Archives says the electoral results were not certified until 3:44 a.m. on the morning of January 7, 2021. Its Jan. 7, 2021 statement says Congress certified the election of Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris at that time.

Date	Event	Source
Tue., Nov. 3, 2020	Election Day	FEC
Mon., Dec. 14, 2020	Electors met and signed state certificates of vote	National Archives
Wed., Jan. 6, 2021	Joint session of Congress counted the electoral votes	Congressional Record
Thu., Jan. 7, 2021, 3:44 a.m.	Congress certified the election	National Archives
Wed., Jan. 20, 2021, noon	Inauguration Day	20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

The joint session was interrupted on Jan. 6 and resumed that evening, according to the Congressional Record.

What happened to the objections on Jan. 6, 2021?

During the joint session, objections to the electoral votes of Arizona and Pennsylvania were put to votes in each chamber, as the Congressional Record shows. Neither objection was sustained.

Objection	Senate	House
Arizona	6 yeas, 93 nays	121 yeas, 303 nays
Pennsylvania	7 yeas, 92 nays	138 yeas, 282 nays

How does 2020 connect to the 2026 and 2028 elections?

This year’s general election is on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. Section 7 of Title 2 of the United States Code sets congressional elections on “the Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November, in every even numbered year.” For 2028, that rule gives Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2028 (a computed date; this page has no official 2028 announcement to cite).

For this year’s schedule, see when we will know the 2026 midterm results, the 2026 ballot and results tracker and whether Election Day is a holiday. To mark the date, use the November 2026 printable calendar or the printable yearly calendar.