Does the loser have to concede for results to be confirmed? Your U.S. election questions answered
Also: Is it too late for Americans in Canada to vote?
From concession protocol, to mail-in ballots and Americans voting from Canada, we're tackling what you want to know about the U.S. presidential election. Email us your questions to [email protected].
Does one of the candidates have to concede for the election results to be confirmed?
With Republican nominee Donald Trump still repeating false claims that the 2020 election was stolen and that he will lose in November only through fraud, the world will be watching to see how the loser of the presidential race will respond to the results.
That said, the results will be confirmed whether or not the loser accepts defeat.
"A candidate's refusal to concede has no effect on the necessary steps that unfold after election day to finalize the result," said Joshua Geltzer, executive director of Georgetown University's Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection.
That process includes a meeting of the electoral college in December, as well as a joint session of Congress in January, he said.
So, while concession speeches aren't legally necessary, they are "symbolically and politically important as a nod to the peaceful transition of power," said U.S. political historian Allan Lichtman.
WATCH | Trump acknowledges election defeat in 2020:
U.S. President Donald Trump only conceded the 2020 election to U.S. President Joe Biden two months after election night, after violent supporters stormed the Capitol building to stop Congress from declaring a Biden win on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump declined to mention Biden by name or explicitly admit he'd lost the election, but instead acknowledged a new administration and said he was focused on "ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power."
In 2000, Al Gore famously conceded to George W. Bush on election night, but retracted it when Florida's results became too close to call. Then, after weeks of legal battles over recounts in the state, Gore eventually gave up and conceded.
Concessions are "incredibly important," said Kathryn Brownell, associate professor of history at Purdue University.
"They legitimize the victory of the other side and it sends a message to supporters that they need to accept the results of the election," she said.
Concessions also emphasize that democratic elections are a peaceful process at their core, she said.
It's worth noting that regardless of a concession, if the race is close or contested and neither candidate gets to 270 electoral college votes, there is still a path to the presidency through the 12th Amendment.
When are mail-in votes counted?
Depends on the state. Each one has their own set of rules governing mail-in ballots.
In the battleground state of Florida, elections supervisors can start counting votes more than three weeks before the election. But in New Hampshire, they can't start the count until after polls close on election day.
Some states — including Pennsylvania, Minnesota, North Carolina and Texas — will even count mail-in ballots received after election day, providing they are postmarked on or before Nov. 3.
One thing that is the same across the board: no state is allowed to reveal results before election day.
Is it too late for Americans in Canada to vote?
More than 600,000 Americans living in Canada are eligible to vote with an absentee ballot.
According to the Federal Voter Assistance Program (FVAP), the deadline to vote depends on the rules of the state where you last lived.
Why do Americans give a party affiliation when they register to vote?
Many Americans register and vote along party lines — but they don't have to vote that way. It depends on the type of election.
For a general election, such as the upcoming presidential and down-ticket contests, registered voters can cast their ballot for whichever candidate they want, and they don't have to register as members of either the Democratic or Republican party.
The reason American voters often decide to declare which party they want to be affiliated with has to do with primary elections.
Many states, like Florida and Pennsylvania, have what are known as "closed primaries."
This means only registered party members can vote for party candidates running in primary elections. This is to deter "cross-over" voting by members of other parties, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
How does a candidate win the popular vote but not become president?
In 2016, Trump won the White House even though Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by nearly three million.
That can happen under the U.S.'s electoral college system. It's not an actual college, but a group of people who cast their votes and have the final say on who becomes president and vice-president of the United States.
Each state gets a certain number of electoral votes based on the number of representatives they have in Congress (House and Senate) for a total of 538 nationwide.
Electors typically vote for the candidate who wins the popular vote in their respective states or districts (with some exceptions), and the candidate who earns 270 or more electoral college votes goes to the White House.
Read more on how this process influences campaign strategy here.
What do you want to know about the U.S. election? Your questions help inform our coverage. Email us at [email protected]
With files from Benjamin Blum, Sylvie Thomson, Stephanie Hogan and Reuters
