When are electoral votes counted and announced?

Electoral votes are counted and announced during a joint session of Congress in January. This event occurs on the sixth day of January following the presidential election, as stipulated by the law. During this session, the President of the Senate presides, and the electoral votes that have been certified by the states are tallied. This process is crucial because it is the formal mechanism through which the results of the Electoral College are confirmed, ultimately leading to the official announcement of the president-elect and vice president-elect.

In contrast to the other choices, December is when the electors cast their votes in their respective state capitals, but the official counting happens later in January. The presidential inauguration occurs on January 20, following the electoral vote counting, and while state assemblies may have a role in the selection of electors, they do not participate in the actual counting of electoral votes at the national level.