WASHINGTON: Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Kamala Harris to win Tuesday’s US presidential election — he will take office on Inauguration Day on Jan 20, 2025.

Here is a timeline of events between now and then:

Nov 26: Trump, the first sitting or former US president to be convicted of a crime, is due to be sentenced in a Manhattan hush money case where he was found guilty of falsifying documents to cover up a payment to silence an adult film-star. Trump has denied wrongdoing. Sentencing was originally due to take place on Sept 18.

Dec 11: States must submit certified slates of presidential electors by this date to the Archivist of the United States as part of a 2022 federal law intended to avoid a repeat of the chaos after Trump’s attempts to overturn his 2020 defeat.

Dec 17: Electors, who together form the Electoral College, meet in their respective states and the District of Columbia to select the president and vice president.

Dec 25: The electoral votes must be received by this date by the president of the Senate — a role held by the vice president, currently Harris — and the Archivist.

Jan 6, 2025: Vice President Harris presides over the Electoral College vote count at a joint session of Congress, announces the results and declares who has been elected.

Ahead of the count on Jan 6, 2021, then-President Trump lambasted his vice president, Mike Pence, for refusing to try to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump.

On that day, the US Capitol was stormed by Trump supporters trying to stop the count. Biden’s win was certified early the next day. Congress has since passed reforms which require approval of one-fifth of the House and Senate to consider a challenge to a state’s results a much higher bar than existed before, when at least one member each in the Senate and the House of Representatives could together trigger a challenge.

Jan 20, 2025: Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance will take their respective oaths of office during a swearing-in ceremony that is due to begin at 12pm ET.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2024