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The President-elect of the United States is a person elected to the office of the President of the United States who has not yet undertaken that office. Such persons are usually referred to as "President-elect" in the months-long period between election and inauguration. Sitting Presidents who have been re-elected, and Vice-Presidents who have succeeded to the office of President through death or resignation of a previous President, are not referred to as "Presidents-elect".

Constitutional criteria

Article II, Section 1 of the United States Constitution and the Twelfth and Twentieth Amendments govern the election of the U.S. President. The members of the U.S. Electoral College are elected by the people in November once every four years in a general election; on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December, electors convene in their respective state capitals (and the District of Columbia) and in turn elect the President of the United States. The electoral ballots are counted in a joint session of Congress on January 6 (as required by 3 U.S. Code, Chapter 1), and if the ballots are accepted without objections, the candidate winning at least 270 electoral votes is announced the President-elect by the incumbent Vice President, in his or her capacity as President of the Senate.

Electoral College role

No constitutional provision or federal law requires electors to vote according to the results of their states’ popular vote, though some states bind their electors to their pledges by state law. Historically, there have been only a few instances of electors not casting their ballots for the candidates to whom they were pledged, nor have such instances ever resulted in changing the final outcome of a presidential election.

Congressional reports

Two congressional reports found that the President-elect is the eventual winner of the majority of electoral ballots cast in December. The Congressional Research Service of The Library of Congress, in its 2004 report titled “Presidential and Vice Presidential Succession: Overview and Current Legislation,” discussed the question of when candidates who have received a majority of electoral votes become President-elect. The report refers to “the time when the electoral votes are cast” as the Monday after the second Wednesday in December (when the Electoral College meets and votes) and goes on to state:

“Some commentators doubt whether an official President- and Vice President-elect exist prior to the electoral votes being counted and announced by Congress on January 6, maintaining that this is a problematic contingency lacking clear constitutional or statutory direction. Others assert that once a majority of electoral votes has been cast for one ticket, then the recipients of these votes become the President- and Vice President-elect, notwithstanding the fact that the votes are not counted and certified until the following January 6.”

The CRS report quotes the 1933 U.S. House committee report accompanying the 20th Amendment as endorsing the latter view:

“ 'It will be noted that the committee uses the term “President elect” in its generally accepted sense, as meaning the person who has received the majority of electoral votes, or the person who has been chosen by the House of Representatives in the event that the election is thrown into the House. It is immaterial whether or not the votes have been counted, for the person becomes the President elect as soon as the votes are cast.' ”

Both government reports make clear that becoming President-elect is contingent upon winning the majority of electoral votes.

President-elect succession

Scholars have noted that the national committees of the Democratic and Republican parties have adopted rules for selecting replacement candidates in the event of a nominee's death, either before or after the general election. If the apparent winner of the general election dies before the Electoral College votes in December the electors probably would endorse whatever new nominee their national party selects as a replacement. If the apparent winner dies between the College's December vote and its counting in Congress in January, the 12th Amendment stipulates that all electoral ballots cast shall be counted, presumably even those for a dead candidate. The U.S. House committee endorsing the 20th Amendment reported that "Congress would have 'no discretion' 'would declare that the deceased candidate had received a majority of the votes.'"

In cases where a president has not been chosen by January 20 or "fails to qualify", or if the President-elect dies before the January 20 inauguration, the 20th Amendment states the Vice President-elect becomes president. In cases where no President-elect or Vice president-elect have qualified, the amendment also gives Congress the authority to declare an acting president until such time as a President or Vice president has qualified. At this point the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 would apply, with the office of the Presidency going to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, followed by the President pro tempore of the Senate and various Cabinet officers.

Presidential transitions

Recent Presidents-elect have assembled presidential transition teams to prepare for a smooth transfer of power following the inauguration. Outgoing Presidents have worked closely with the President-elect on important policy matters during the last two months of the President's term to ensure a smooth transition and continuity of operations that have significant national interests. Before the ratification of the 20th Amendment in 1933, which moved the start of the presidential term to January, the President-elect did not assume office until March, four months after the popular election. During this time, the outgoing President is sometimes colloquially referred to as 'lame duck', because while he still holds office, his decisions may soon be modified or superseded by the future President.

The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 authorizes the Administrator of the General Services Administration to certify, even before the December vote of the Electoral College, the apparent winner of the November general election as the President-elect for the purposes of receiving federal transition funding, office space and communications services prior to the beginning of the new administration on January 20.

The president-elect assumes office as the next President of the United States of America upon the expiration of the term of the previous office-holder at noon on January 20. This procedure has been the subject of many misinterpretations and urban legends, such as the myth of David Rice Atchison's one day-long presidency, which is not only predicated upon false assumptions but is also logically flawed. Taking the formal oath of office does not affect the automatic accession to and occupation of the office of the presidency, which, in the case of the U.S. President, proceeds, ipso facto, from the expiration of the predecessor's term.

Presidents-elect and Vice Presidents-elect receive protection from the United States Secret Service, though they may already have received such protection during the election campaign.

List of U.S. Presidents-elect

Party shadings
None
Whig
Democratic-Republican
Federalist
Democratic
Republican

See also

• Presidential transition of Barack Obama‎

External links

• GSA Presidential Transition

References

1. "U.S. National Archives and Records Administration FAQ". Retrieved 2008-11-23. The Supreme Court has held that the Constitution does not require that electors be completely free to act as they choose and therefore, political parties may extract pledges from electors to vote for the parties' nominees.
2. http://lieberman.senate.gov/documents/crs/presidentialsuccession.pdf
3. U.S. Congress, House, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, report to accompany S.J. Res. 14, 72nd Cong., 1st sess., Rept. 345 (Washington, GPO:1932), p. 6.
4. Longley, Lawrence D. (1999). The Electoral College Primer 2000. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-08036-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
5. "Presidential Transition Act of 1963 (Public Law 88-277)". General Services Administration. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
6. In November 2000, the GSA administrator did not name a president-elect until the legal disputes over vote counting in Florida were resolved. Schrader, Esther (2000-11-28). "GSA Denies Bush Transition Aid, Citing Legal Battle". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-11-16. It started early Monday, when the Bush team asked for access to the taxpayer-funded transition offices that are to be used by the president-elect. The General Services Administration refused, explaining it was best to wait until the legal challenges in Florida had run their course. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
7. Date of election by House of Representatives
8. Date of election by House of Representatives
9. Taylor was sworn in on March 5.
10. Date the contested election was certified by Congress
11. Hayes took his inauguration oath privately on March 3 and publicly on March 5.
12. Date Al Gore conceded following the U.S. Supreme Court's halting of recount efforts in Florida.

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