@AT25
You can’t re-characterize your excess 2019 contributions. They are dealt with via a different process.
[Note that I have edited the parts of this answer to correct them]
step one is to file an amended tax return for 2019 that reports the excess (disallowed) Roth contribution for 2019 and calculates and pays a 6% penalty tax.
step two is to re-characterize your 2020 contributions. This means that you have to take the money out of the Roth IRA along with its earnings, and then put the money into a traditional IRA. You can do an in-kind re-characterization, which means moving the investment instruments rather than cashing them out first. However, you have to move the correct amount of money, and I imagine that you may have to sell at least a small amount to create cash to make up any uneven numbers. You may not be able to do an in-kind transfer if you are also changing brokers.
step three is to file an amended 2020 tax return. On the amended 2020 tax return, you will report the non-deductible traditional IRA contribution that resulted from the re-characterization, and you will also calculate in pay a 6% penalty on the excess 2019 contribution that is still in the Roth IRA.
step four is to re-characterize any excess 2021 contributions to the Roth IRA. You will withdraw the amount of the contribution plus its earnings and move it to the IRA. Again, an in-kind transfer may be possible, but you may have to sell some of your assets to create cash to make up the correct dollar values.
step five is to make a regular withdrawal of $6000 from the Roth IRA, representing the excess contribution from 2019 (if $6000 is the correct amount).
step six is to file your 2021 tax return. On your 2021 tax return, you will report the 2021 recharacterization as a traditional IRA contribution. Your 2021 tax return will not include an additional 6% penalty going back to the 2019 excess contribution because will you have removed it by making a regular withdrawal.
at the end of 2021, you should find that your Roth IRA only contains the earnings from the 2019 excess contribution. That money can stay in the Roth IRA if you wish.
