Who won the 2020 presidential election
Executive summary
Joe Biden won the 2020 United States presidential election, receiving 306 electoral votes to Donald Trump’s 232 and carrying 51.3% of the national popular vote to Trump’s 46.8% [1] [2]. The result was projected by major media outlets after counting delays tied to an unprecedented volume of mail-in ballots and was later certified by Congress amid post-election legal challenges and a contested transition [3] [2] [4].
1. The official outcome: Electoral College and popular vote
The formal, recorded outcome shows Joseph R. Biden Jr. as the Electoral College winner with 306 votes versus Donald J. Trump’s 232, a margin that exceeded the 270 needed to prevail and was documented by the National Archives’ Electoral College records [1]; contemporaneous election tallies and archival records corroborate Biden’s 51.3% share of the popular vote to Trump’s 46.8% [2].
2. How the votes were counted and why results were delayed
The 2020 election saw historic levels of early and mail-in voting driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, producing slower counts in several battleground states where mail ballots were being tallied after Election Day; that delay is the reason major outlets waited until the morning of November 7, 2020, to project Biden as president-elect [3] [4]. Voter turnout rose substantially compared with 2016 — a factor analysts identify as central to the result — with studies finding a markedly higher participation rate in 2020 [5].
3. Post-election legal challenges and official findings
Following the election, President Trump and numerous allies mounted lawsuits and public campaigns alleging widespread fraud and irregularities; those challenges failed to produce evidence sufficient to reverse results in key states, and Attorney General William Barr and state officials reported no evidence of widespread fraud or systemic irregularities that would change the outcome [4]. Courts dismissed many of the high-profile suits and recounts and audits left the electoral totals intact as tabulated by state authorities [4].
4. Certification, the transition and the constitutional finish line
After states certified their results, electors met and cast their ballots, the totals were submitted to Congress and, following the violent disruption of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Congress certified the Electoral College on January 7, 2021, completing the constitutional process that confirmed Biden’s victory and led to a scheduled inauguration [2]. Major institutional records and archival sources list Biden as the electoral winner and Kamala Harris as vice president-elect, reflecting the formal outcome of that constitutional process [1].
5. Why disputes persisted and where narratives diverged
Despite the legal and administrative confirmations, political and media narratives diverged sharply: supporters of Trump amplified claims of fraud and sought to delegitimize counting methods, while election administrators, federal officials, and independent audits emphasized the integrity of the count and pointed to the extraordinary scale of mail-in voting and its predictable effect on reporting timelines [3] [4]. Sources note that disinformation campaigns, partisan amplification, and political incentives contributed to ongoing public confusion about the result [3] [2].
6. The journalistic verdict and remaining questions
Weighing the certified electoral tallies, contemporaneous media projections, federal and state investigations, and the procedural completion of the Electoral College and congressional certification, the evidence across official and independent sources is unequivocal that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election [1] [4] [2]; reporting and analysis still debate the political, legal, and social aftermath, including how misinformation spread and how election administration should adapt to future crises [3] [5].