President-elect of the United States is the title used for an incoming president of the United States in the period between the general election on Election Day in November and noon Eastern Standard Time on Inauguration Day, January 20, during which the president-elect is not in office yet. The title is used for the apparent winner and is finalized when votes of the Electoral College, cast in December, are counted by a joint session of Congress in early January. If a sitting president has won re-election, the incumbent is not referred to as a president-elect because he or she is already in office and is not waiting to become president. If a new president is scheduled to enter, then the current-standing one is said to hold the office on a lame-duck basis.