How the 2020 election will end: Yahoo News Explains

Nov. 3, Election Day, may seem like a long time ago, but on Jan. 6 — or in the early hours of Jan. 7 — the 2020 presidential election may actually end, as Congress meets in a joint session to count and certify the Electoral College vote. However, Republicans in both the House and the Senate plan to object to some states’ results in a last-ditch effort to hand President Trump another term. Yahoo News explains what to expect.

Video Transcript

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SAM MATTHEWS: Remember November 3-- Election Day? When you think about it, it wasn't that long ago. It just feels like a time from a galaxy far, far away. But somehow, despite the odds, there are still a few bits of election business to take care of. That's because, on January 6, members of the new Congress will be sworn in and hold a joint session to count and validate the Electoral College votes for president.

It's mandated by law, sure, but largely ceremonial. The electoral votes are carried into the chamber in ornate boxes. Members of Congress look them over. And then the vice president declares the winner. It's been done in as little as 30 minutes. And the only real event of note is that sometimes the current vice president has to declare their opponent the winner of the election-- like Al Gore in 2001, or Richard Nixon in 1961, or Mike Pence this time.

But during that part where they're looking through the electoral votes, if at least two members-- one from the House and one from the Senate-- object to the results, Congress then goes into two hours of debate. And then the objection is put to a vote. President Trump has been tweeting about this a lot. And many of his supporters seem to believe this will be the turning point, where every misstep since November 3 will be revealed as part of some kind of master strategy, and hand Trump another four years.

Over the last few weeks, a handful of Republicans in the House have said that they are planning to object to certain electoral results, including Georgia representative Jody Hice, who was re-elected in the same state where he is alleging voter irregularities. On the Senate side--

- A group of Republican senators, including Ted Cruz of Texas, now plans to object to Joe Biden's electoral college win.

It may be kind of fun to watch, but once it's over, it'll go to a vote. And it will need to pass by a majority in both chambers. And in the Senate, there are several Republicans who have already ruled it out, like Mitt Romney-- even Mitch McConnell. So it's hard to conceive of a scenario where an objection to a single state's vote goes anywhere, let alone the multiple states that would be needed to change the election results.

Now, members objecting to a single state's results does happen. As recently as 2005, Senator Barbara Boxer and Ohio representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones filed objections to the electoral results in Ohio for the 2004 election. They debated it. It was shot down in a vote. And President George W. Bush was declared the winner. There was never really any chance or hope that those objections would overturn the election result.

In a much closer election in 2001, several Democrats in the house objected to Florida's results, following the recount. But Vice President Gore, who lost that election, had no choice but to dismiss them, because no members of the Senate joined in.

And that brings us to the current vice president, Mike Pence. In the all-but-certain event that the electoral college results are counted and show that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won, it's going to be up to him to declare his opponents victorious. Look, it's a tough situation to be in. And, if for some reason he's not up to it, there is another option. The longest serving member of the majority party in the Senate-- in this case, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, who has already acknowledged Joe Biden as President-elect-- would take over the proceedings. And then it's his job to declare the winner. So brace yourself. 2020 isn't quite over yet.

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