President of the USA: The path to Office

The USA Presidential Election appears to have resulted with a win for the Democratic Party candidate - Senator Joe Biden. 

I say "appears" because the process, which is described here, will not conclude until January 2021.

The key dates are:

8 December - States to have selected and named their "electors" who collectively form the Electoral College -  There are 538 electors in total.

14 December - electors meet in

their respective states and officially cast their votes for their candidate. The governor of the state will also certify the election results and the final cohort of electors by this date. The electors' ballots will then be sent to Congress, arriving by Dec. 23.

3 January 2021 - the new (117th) Congress will be sworn into office

6 January - Congress counts the electoral votes and certifies the winner

20 January (at noon) the next President and Vice-President are sworn into office.

President Trump's term of office is 4 years and ends at noon on 20 January. As explained in this article in The Conversation, the 4 years term is strict and was included in the formal (written) Constitution of the USA because those who founded the Union did not wish it to become a monarchy. After all, they had successfully fought a War of Independence (1775-83) with Great Britain. That war officially ended with the Treaty of Paris 1783 acknowledging that the USA is a "free, sovereign, and independent" nation.  

Media:

The Guardian - US election results 2020

BBC News 24 November - Trump accepts transition to Biden must begin

The Guardian 24 November - Trump agrees to begin transition as key agency calls Biden apparent election winner

23 November 2020

Addendum 15 December - Washington Post - Electoral College confirms Biden's victory

Addendum 6 January 2021 - Congress confirmed Biden as President - “Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th,” Mr. Trump said in the statement issued shortly after Congress dismissed his allies’ objections to the electors in the pre-dawn hours. The day was marred by violence as reported at The Guardian 7 January 2021. A protest rally - (held with no regard for the coronavius pandemic) - was addressed by Trump outside the White House, "during which he urged the crowd to then march on the Capitol as members of Congress were in the process of certifying the official result of the November election in favor of Joe Biden."

Addendum 21 January 2021 - On 20 January Biden was inaugurated as President - Inaugural Address.