Kammala jumla mai zuwa: An gudanar da muhawarar shugaban kasa guda biyu, amma Carter ya ki shiga idan an hada Anderson, don haka muhawarar farko ta kasance tsakanin Reagan da Anderson kawai. Mako guda kafin ranar zabe, an shirya wani muhawara tsakanin Shugaba Carter da Reagan; Ba a gayyaci Anderson ba. A ranar zabe, Ronald Reagan ya lashe zaben da gagarumar nasara da kashi 51 cikin dari na kuri'un da aka zaba tare da kuri'un zabe 489 zuwa kuri'un zabe 49 na Carter. A lokacin da yake da shekaru 69, Reagan shi ne dan takarar shugaban kasa mafi tsufa da ya lashe zaben shugaban kasa. Shugaba Carter ya karbi bakuncinsa a Fadar White House a ranar 20 ga Nuwamba, 1980. Ya kasance
aka kaddamar a ranar 20 ga Janairu, 1981.