Who Won the 2020 Election? 12 Powerful Sources Answer

Who Won the 2020 Election According to Official Records?

Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election.

The National Archives records Biden as receiving 306 electoral votes and Trump as receiving 232.

Congress completed the electoral count during the early morning of January 7, 2021.

Vice President Mike Pence announced the same result in the joint session of Congress.

That declaration completed the constitutional process for identifying the elected president and vice president.

How Was the Winner of the 2020 Election Decided?

The president is not elected by whichever candidate declares victory first.

The president is not elected by rally attendance, television ratings, social media engagement, yard signs, or the number of counties won.

States administer elections and certify their results.

Each state appoints presidential electors according to its certified results and election laws.

Those electors cast their votes.

Congress then counts the electoral votes.

A candidate must receive a majority of appointed electoral votes to win.

The threshold in 2020 was 270 electoral votes.

Biden received 306.

Trump received 232.

Who Won the 2020 Election? Twelve Independent Records Answer

These 12 sources do not all perform the same role.

Some are official federal records.

Some are state certifications or audit records.

Others are news organizations that independently reported the certified result.

Together, they answer who won the 2020 election without relying on one partisan authority.

Who Won the 2020 Election According to Congress?

Congress counted the Electoral College votes during a joint session that concluded early on January 7, 2021.

Vice President Mike Pence announced that Biden received 306 electoral votes and Trump received 232.

The video below shows the congressional certification of Biden’s victory.

Watch the congressional certification video on YouTube .

Review the official United States House activity record .

Did the Media Decide Who Won the 2020 Election?

No.

News organizations project winners using reported vote totals, remaining ballots, historical patterns, and mathematical analysis.

Those projections inform the public, but they do not legally certify a president.

The legal result came from:

1. State and local vote counting
2. State canvassing and certification
3. Recounts and audits where required or requested
4. The appointment of presidential electors
5. The Electoral College vote
6. The congressional electoral count

News organizations did not create Biden’s victory.

They reported the result produced by voters and confirmed through the constitutional process.

Could Fraud Change Who Won the 2020 Election?

Evidence of a mistake, suspicious video, inaccurate voter record, isolated illegal vote, broken procedure, or security vulnerability should be investigated.

But finding one problem does not automatically prove that the wrong presidential candidate was declared the winner.

Evidence sufficient to overturn the result would need to establish:

1. Which votes were unlawfully included or excluded
2. Where those votes were cast
3. How the evidence was authenticated
4. How many votes were affected
5. Which candidate benefited
6. Whether the number exceeded the certified margin
7. Whether correcting the problem changed the Electoral College result

Isolated fraud does not prove that an entire election was stolen.

Administrative mistakes do not prove that the mistakes changed the winner.

A vulnerability does not prove that someone exploited it.

An investigation does not prove the allegation being investigated.

Did Trump’s Lawsuits Change Who Won the 2020 Election?

No legal challenge produced a final order declaring that Trump won enough additional states to reach 270 electoral votes.

The cases did not all end for the same reason.

Some were dismissed because of standing, timing, jurisdiction, procedure, or the remedy requested.

Some concerned disputes too small to alter the presidential result.

Some courts rejected factual claims or found that the submitted evidence did not justify the requested relief.

Some cases were withdrawn.

It would be inaccurate to claim that every allegation received a full evidentiary trial.

It would also be inaccurate to claim that the legal record proved Trump won.

It did not.

The certified state results remained in place.

The electors voted.

Congress counted those votes.

Biden received the majority.

What Did Trump’s Attorney General Say?

William Barr served as Trump’s attorney general during the 2020 election.

On December 1, 2020, Barr told the Associated Press that the Justice Department had not found fraud on a scale that could have produced a different outcome.

That did not mean no election crime occurred anywhere.

It meant the department had not found evidence supporting the claim that widespread fraud changed who won the 2020 election.

Read the Associated Press summary of Barr’s statement .

The Bottom Line: Who Won the 2020 Election?

Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

He won the national popular vote.

He won enough certified state contests to receive 306 electoral votes.

The states appointed Biden electors.

The Electoral College voted for Biden.

Congress counted and declared the result.

State recounts and audits did not reverse it.

Trump’s attorney general said the Justice Department had not found fraud on a scale that would change it.

Trump’s legal challenges did not produce a different winner.

Republican officials certified it.

Democratic officials certified it.

Independent and conservative news organizations reported it.

The answer to who won the 2020 election does not become less real because Donald Trump continues to deny it.