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The White House in Washington, DC: It's still a long time before Joe Biden moves in
Photo: Steve Helber / AP
On January
20, 2021
, Joe Biden will take his oath of office as President of the United States of America.
Inauguration Day is traditionally celebrated on the steps of the Capitol in Washington, DC.
But until then there are still 73 days.
During this time, Joe Biden has several appointments that will make his election as US president really official.
Since election day on November 3rd, votes have been counted in the US states.
The process is so far advanced that the media were able to declare Biden the winner based on the data.
But in many places the count will continue for at least several days, because in view of the corona pandemic, there is an unprecedented volume of postal votes.
The previously announced recount in Georgia, where the difference between Biden and President Donald Trump is particularly small, is likely to further delay the final result.
In addition, Trump is trying to challenge the results in other contested states with lawsuits.
The deadline for resolving such disputes is
December 8, 2020
.
Once the state authorities have tallied the votes and confirmed the final result, the governors send a certificate to the United States national archivist.
When voting, the citizens decided for whom the electorate in their state should vote in the so-called Electoral College.
Voting will take place on
December 14th,
using a paper ballot in each state.
After the votes have been counted, the voters again sign certificates, which are ultimately sent to several people, including the Chairman of the US Senate - who is currently Vice President Mike Pence.
Those responsible in the respective state and the national archivist also receive the documents.
The deadline for this is
December 23rd
.
Only on
January 6,
the votes of the electorate will be counted in a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives in Washington, DC and the result will be announced.
Vice President Pence will be in charge.
If one of the candidates receives more than 270 votes - and it can be assumed that after a ruling by the Supreme Court in July, the electors are bound by their mandate - the Vice President officially announces the winner.
From this day on, there are still around two weeks until the inauguration.
Preparations are already under way so that Biden and his designated Vice President Kamala Harris can start their office smoothly.
Central is the "transition team", i.e. a team for the transition phase up to the inauguration (this is what Trump's team looked like in 2016).
Biden's team is coordinated by his longtime confidante Ted Kaufman.
Priority should initially be given to the appointment of a chief of staff and the management of the corona pandemic, reported the AP news agency, citing close advisers to the Democrat.
On Thursday, Biden was already briefed by health experts.
The "Transition Team" also prepares the filling of ministerial posts, and security checks are carried out by the Federal Police FBI.
Is an authority hindering the transition?
According to US media, however, an agency of the US government could cause problems: The General Services Administration, or GSA for short, is responsible for ensuring that the transfer of power goes smoothly.
However, the authority must first determine who won the election.
According to "ABC News" it usually does this when several credible media outlets have announced the decision - which has already happened - or when the losing candidate has admitted defeat - which President Trump has so far refused to do.
The authority announced on Saturday that a decision had not yet been made.
From the point of view of Biden and Harris, this depends, among other things, on access to information from the federal authorities and the transfer of funds with which the work of the "transition team" is to be financed.
According to "Politico", the election winner is currently relying on the GSA officials and their director Emily Murphy not being guided by Trump's interference.
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mes / lmd / dpa / AFP / Reuters / AP