United States presidential election, July 2020
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26 members of the Electoral College 14 electoral votes needed to win | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opinion polls | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 61.9% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Presidential election results map. Blue denotes states won by Garland/Cabin and red denotes those won by Trash/Politophile. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The United States presidential election of July 2020, held between July 7, 2020 and July 13, 2020, was the eigth U.S. presidential election.
Nominations
Libertarian Party
Primary process
Three politicians put themselves forward for the Libertarian nomination. After the nominations were over, a debate period began, and a vote using ranked-choice voting followed. Jack Coulter swept the primary vote with 66.6% of the vote.
Nominees
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| Jack Coulter | April | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| for President | for Vice President | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Senator and Northern Lieutenant Governor |
Former Senate PPT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Candidates
| Candidates in this section are sorted by the percentage of votes recieved in the primary | ||
| Jack Coulter | Mike Smith | System Jones |
|---|---|---|
|
 |
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| Lieutenant Governor of the North (June 8, 2020 - July 13, 2020) |
Former Representative from Dixie (November 7, 2020 – January 11, 2020) |
Former Vice President (February 2019 - March 2019) |
| 66.6% of the vote | 26.6% of the vote | 6.6% of the vote |
American Liberal Coalition
Primary process
The ALC primary originally had 2 candidates vying for the nomination. However, Dallas's run was ended after her expulsion from the party following the JAPL Scandal. This left Garland able to take the nomination unopposed.
Nominees
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| Lyndon Garland | Cabin Fever | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| for President | for Vice President | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Governor of the North | Vice President | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Candidates
| Candidates in this section are sorted by the percentage of votes recieved in the primary | |
| Lyndon Garland | Dallas |
|---|---|
|
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| Governor of the Northern State (June 8, 2020 - July 13, 2020) |
Former Representative from Jefferson (June 13, 2020 – July 11, 2020) |
| Unopposed | Withdrew |
Socialist Party
Primary process
The Socialist Party did not run a primary, as Trash ran unopposed.
Nominees
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| Trash | Politophile | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| for President | for Vice President | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Senator | Former President | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Platform | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Candidates
| Candidates in this section are sorted by the percentage of votes recieved in the primary |
| Trash |
|---|
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| Senator from Dixie (March 20, 2020 - present) |
| Unopposed |
Opinion polls
Multiple organizations carried out opinion polls leading up to the election. Most notable of these were The Public Record and The Archivist. Although most polls predicted a Garland plurality, all were in concurrence that none of the candidates would reach the 14 electoral votes required to win the electoral college, sending it to the House.
| Race | Poll model | Lyndon Garland ALC |
Jack Coulter Libertarian |
Trash Socialist |
Leading by (points) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two-way | The Public Record | 47.5% | 52.5% | Not polled | 5 |
| Three-way | The Archivist | 44.4% | 27.7% | 27.7% | 16.7 |
| The Public Record | 38.5% | 41% | 17.9% | 2.5 | |
| American Workers Paper | 53.7% | 28.9% | 17.4% | 24.7 | |
| ABC News | 45% | 40% | 15% | 5 |
Campaign
Campaigning took place on July 7. Garland massively outspent the other candidates, while Trash failed to pick up any money from outside groups.
Campaign finance
| Candidate | Grassroots | Party and outside groups | Total raised | Total spent | Total cash on hand | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Money raised | Money spent | Cash on hand | Money raised | Money spent | Cash on hand | ||||
| Lyndon Garland | $100,000 | $100,000 | $0 | $190,000 | $190,000 | $0 | $290,000 | $290,000 | $0 |
| Jack Coulter | $100,000 | $100,000 | $0 | $70,000 | $70,000 | $0 | $170,000 | $170,000 | $0 |
| Trash | $100,000 | $100,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $100,000 | $100,000 | $0 |
Campaign spending by state
| Candidate | North | Dixie | Jefferson | DC | Total spending |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lyndon Garland | $90,000 | $60,000 | $90,000 | $50,000 | $290,000 |
| Jack Coulter | $40,000 | $50,000 | $80,000 | $0 | $170,000 |
| Trash | $0 | $100,000 | $0 | $0 | $100,000 |
Debates
An official debate was held between the Presidential candidates from July 7 to July 9. Concurrently, one was held between the Vice Presidential candidates.
An unofficial debate was hosted by ABC News, moderated by SteB.
Results
| 12 | 5 | 9 |
| Garland | Coulter | Trash |
Overview
The results came as a surprise to many. Some polls had predicted a Coulter plurality of both the popular vote and the Electoral College, and his last place in the elector count was unexpected.
| Presidential Candidate | Party | Home State | Popular Vote | Electoral Vote | Running Mate | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vice-Presidential Candidate | Party | Home State | Electoral Vote | |||||
| Lyndon Garland | ALC | North | 49.69% | 12 | Cabin Fever | Independent | North | 12 |
| Jack Coulter | Libertarian Party | North | 28.55% | 5 | April | Libertarian Party | Jefferson | 5 |
| Trash | Socialist Party | Dixie | 21.44% | 9 | Politophile | Socialist Party | Dixie | 9 |
| Other/Write-in | 0.32% | — | Other/Write-in | — | ||||
| Total | 100% | 26 | 26 | |||||
| Needed to win | 14 | 14 | ||||||
Results by state
The table below displays the official vote tallies by each state's Electoral College voting method. The source for the results of all states is the official Federal Election Commission results. The column labeled "Margin" shows the winner of the state's margin of victory over their closest rival.
Unlike the previous presidential election, not all states had winner-take-all systems in place. Between this election and the previous, Dixie repealed its proportional allocation via the EAR Act, allowing all 7 of its Electoral Votes to be given to the winner. All other states were, however, proportional. This proved costly for the Coulter Campaign, as their loss prevented them from taking any of Dixie's electoral votes.
Garland, being the long-time Governor of the North, swept his home state. His own Lt Governor, Coulter, only managed a very distant second in the North. Dixie, Trash's home state, was long considered to be a right stronghold, and Coulter's loss to Trash there was a major upset. Not only did he lose, he did not manage to even come second. This loss likely cost him the election, as with a win in Dixie he would have tied with Garland for Electoral Votes. Garland's sweep of DC was expected, as no other candidate even campaigned in DC.
| States won by Garland/Cabin | |
| States won by Trash/Politophile |
| Garland/Cabin | Coulter/April | Trash/Politophile | Margin | Total Electoral Vote | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Popular Vote | Electoral Vote | Popular Vote | Electoral Vote | Popular Vote | Electoral Vote | ||
| North | 62.89% | 5 | 22.34% | 2 | 14.79% | 1 | 40.55% | 8 |
| Dixie | 30.83% | - | 30.59% | - | 36.56% | 7 | 5.73% | 7 |
| Jefferson | 49.39% | 4 | 35.30% | 3 | 15.30% | 1 | 14.09% | 8 |
| DC | 78.79% | 3 | 13.64% | 0 | 7.58% | 0 | 65.15% | 3 |
| Total | 12 | 5 | 9 | 26 | ||||
Aftermath
In the wake of his defeat, Coulter released a press statement conceding defeat. In it, he endorsed Garland and urged members of Congress not to vote for him, saying, "Should some representatives decide that their political goals, partisan or personal, are of more importance than the voice of the people, “disappointed” will not be able to properly convey my feelings".
Contingent election
Senate
As prescribed by the 12th Amendment, the U.S. Senate has the constitutional responsibility to elect a Vice President if no ticket reaches the majority required in the electoral college. The Senate held a contingent election from July 11 to July 13, with Sen. Epsilon presiding. The Senate was limited to choosing from among the two candidates who received the most electoral votes: Cabin and Politophile; April, who had finished third, was eliminated. Senator Valerie was unable to participate in the proceedings, as she could not leave the Office of the Presidency until a replacement had been chosen.
Votes
The Senate voted 4-1 to elect Cabin as the Vice President. Only Trash, Senator from Dixie, voted for his own running mate Politophile.
| Senator | Vote |
|---|---|
| Kody Clark | Cabin |
| Tedd Ddet | Cabin |
| Epsilon Leclair | Cabin |
| James Order | Cabin |
| Trash | Politophile |
House of Representatives
As no presidential candidate had won a majority in the electoral college, the responsibility for electing a new president landed upon the U.S. House of Representatives, which held a contingent election between July 11 and July 13. Each state delegation, voting en bloc, had a single vote, made by its presiding officer to the House floor. A majority of two of the three states was required for a candidate to win.
The delegations discussed and voted in closed session, to prevent the public and other Representatives from influencing the outcome of the vote.
Votes
The House voted 2-1 to elect Garland as the President, with Dixie casting their vote for Trash.
| July 11 - July 13 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | |
| Lyndon Garland | 2 | |
| Trash | 1 | |
| Jack Coulter | 0 | |
| Total votes | 3 | |
| Votes necessary | 2 | |
Northern Delegation
| Representative | Vote |
|---|---|
| ADrewster | Garland |
| Arkenstone | Garland |
| Bob2Boy | Trash |
| Matthew Hale | Garland |
| Thanos May | Garland |
Dixie Delegation
| Representative | Vote |
|---|---|
| Drunk | Garland |
| Jed Marshall | Trash |
| Poliman | Trash |
| Sandoval | Trash |
| John Smith | Trash |
Jefferson Delegation
| Representative | Vote |
|---|---|
| Putbye | Garland |
| Trent | Garland |
| Sandra Murphy-Colbert | Garland |
| Caprese | Garland |
| Computerguy | Garland |
| Barch | Garland |
Post-election events and controversies
Trash closed meeting
On July 13, as the House contingent elections were ending, The Public Record released a special issue. In this issue, they revealed that Computerguy had come forward with evidence of a secret meeting that presidential Candidate Trash held with Libertatrian Representatives in a bid to win Jefferson's House delegation, and ultimately the Presidency. In the meeting, he agreed to majorly compromise on his foreign policy concerning Israel, in exchange for power. He also asked to be filled in on the proceedings in the Jefferson closed session, however immediately rescinded this upon learning of its illegality.
This coming to light brought Trash into a large-scale twitter fight, where many members of the right involved with the meeting defended his actions, while many on the left attacked him for it. There were little to no official ramifications for Trash.
Media coverage
Media coverage of the presidential election was widespread. The Public Record covered the election results live as they came out. After the stream, they released a podcast episode in which they discussed the election results. ABC News covered the House contingency election closely, while the American Workers' Paper also reported on the events.