What is the official certified result of the 2024 U.S. presidential election and who declared it?

1. What “official certified result” means and who records it

The Constitution and federal procedure place the formal certification of the presidential election at two linked steps: states certify their results and appoint electors (Certificates of Ascertainment), then the appointed electors meet and cast Electoral College votes; those electoral votes are transmitted to the National Archives and counted in a joint session of Congress (National Archives timeline) ^[1]. The National Archives publishes the aggregated Electoral College outcome after states’ Certificates of Ascertainment and Certificates of Vote are received ^[1].

2. What the certified Electoral College tally shows

According to the National Archives’ 2024 Electoral College page, the certified Electoral College winner is President Donald J. Trump with 312 electoral votes, versus Kamala D. Harris with 226 electoral votes; the Electoral College process and key dates (electors meeting Dec. 17, 2024; Congress counting Jan. 6, 2025) are listed there ^[1]. Independent media projections and result maps published after counting also showed Trump surpassing the 270-vote threshold on election night and in certified state tallies (BBC; New York Times) ^{[2] [3]}.

3. Who “declared” the result — practical vs. constitutional answers

Practically, major news organizations declared a winner on election night as state totals and projections pushed one candidate past 270 electoral votes; the BBC’s results tracker noted Trump passed 270 with a Wisconsin projection and called him the next president based on vote totals ^[2]. Constitutionally and formally, the declaration is a two-step institutional process: states certify electors via Certificates of Ascertainment and the electors cast votes, and the National Archives and Congress finalize the result by receiving and counting those electoral votes during their joint session — that is the formal certification of the Electoral College winner ^[1].

4. Timeline and institutions involved in certification

Key dates listed by the National Archives: states choose electors on Election Day (Nov. 5, 2024); by Dec. 11 each state’s executive signs Certificates of Ascertainment to appoint electors; electors meet and vote on Dec. 17, 2024; and Congress counts the votes in a joint session on Jan. 6, 2025 ^[1]. The National Archives posts Certificates of Vote as they arrive and summarizes the Electoral College totals once the process is complete ^[1].

5. Media projection versus legal certification — why both matter

Media outlets (for example the BBC and the New York Times interactive precinct map) projected and visualized the winner based on state vote totals and called Trump the winner after he passed 270 in their models ^{[2] [3]}. Those projections influence public perception immediately, but only state certifications, the electors’ votes, and Congress’s official count establish the legally binding, federal record — which the National Archives documents ^[1].

6. Consensus, disputes, and what available sources say about challenges

Available sources in the provided set document the formal Electoral College result and the administrative timeline (National Archives) and show mainstream outlets reporting Trump’s victory (BBC, New York Times) ^{[1] [2] [3]}. The provided materials also note that courts and proceedings surrounding candidates were active in 2024–2025 reporting (Wikipedia and Britannica excerpts discuss legal matters and post-election legal developments), but the current set of sources does not detail any overturning of the certified Electoral College result ^{[4] [5]}. If you want reporting on specific legal challenges to state certifications or the congressional count, those items are not detailed in the documents you supplied — not found in current reporting here.

7. Context: turnout and vote patterns that produced the result

Analyses from the Census Bureau and Pew Research Center highlight high participation in 2024 (about 65.3% turnout of the citizen voting-age population per the Census Bureau) and shifts in demographic and geographic voting that advantaged Trump in key states, which collectively produced his Electoral College majority (Census; Pew) ^{[6] [7]}. The Pew analysis specifically cites Trump’s gains among some voter groups as decisive in his victory ^[7].

If you want, I can pull specific state certification dates, the text of any Certificates of Ascertainment, or contemporaneous media declarations for each tipping-point state from the New York Times or BBC trackers in the provided results ^{[3] [2]}.