What happens if the results of the presidential election are contested?
Thanks to COVID-19, states will be handling more mail-in ballots than ever, which will obvi slow down the counting process. But what happens if the election results are disputed? To understand this, we need to understand the timeline.
On Nov. 3, Americans go to the polls to cast their ballot or must have sent it by mail and it must be postmarked on or before Election Day. States then have until 35 days after the elections (dec. 8) to submit their results.
If there is a dispute candidates can file a lawsuit, but they must do so before this because on December 14, voters are required to convene and transmit the results to Congress by certified mail.
There are several scenarios, but the most likely one is that one of the candidates claims that there were irregularities in the mail-in ballot. If this is the case, that candidate's team could file a lawsuit in the state where they think this happened. These lawsuits have an accelerated process and could go all the way to the Supreme Court.
On January 6, Congress meets and certifies the results and at noon on January 20, the new president takes office.