Latest US elections: America decides: Election Day in the race for the White House

When it comes to US elections, voting day is not the only date to put on the political calendar, especially since Donald Trump is expected to take any losses to court.

Here we look at the eight important dates you need to know:

November 5

Although it is called election day, it is better thought of as the last voters can vote on the day because they can cast their vote early or vote by post.

November 7

State election officials are beginning to certify results at a staggered pace. The battleground deadlines are as follows: Georgia, November 23, Michigan, November 25, North Carolina and Nevada, November 26, Wisconsin, December 1, Arizona, December 2. Pennsylvania does not have a specific date.

November 25

This is the last day a mail-in ballot can arrive and be counted, as long as it arrives with a Nov. 5 postmark.

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia allow ballots to arrive after Election Day.

November 26

Donald Trump will be sentenced in New York for the hush money trial in which he was found guilty of 34 charges of falsifying company records.

December 11

The Electoral Count Act requires the governor of each state to certify the results by this date.

Any legal challenges must then be completed by December 16.

This is the first election where these rules apply. The law was changed after the January 6 insurrection attempt by pro-Trump supporters.

December 17

A controversial quirk of the U.S. Constitution: the people do not technically elect president, but rather choose a group of “electors” to do so for them.

On December 17, these electors are sent by each state to the Electoral College to vote for a candidate, as directed by the public.

Each state has a different number of votes in the Electoral College, depending on its population size. In 48 of these, these votes are won on the basis of the ‘winner-takes-all’ principle.

January 6

The incumbent vice president, this time Kamala Harris, performs the ceremonial duty of presiding over a joint session of the House and Senate in which all the electoral college votes are counted and the winner is declared.

January 20

The president-elect takes the oath of office on the steps of the Capitol.