What is a voter certificate? The facts you need to fend off attacks on the democratic process

The election is already underway, and as the first votes are cast, election deniers are also spreading lies to divide and distract us and undermine democracy. We already saw this in 2020, when losing politicians tried to use misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories, baseless lawsuits, and even political violence to overturn the voice of the people. Don't listen to the lies. After voters cast their votes, our voting system has a comprehensive control system to ensure that the results are valid and accurate. Knowing the facts in advance can help us counteract efforts that would derail a free and fair election.

What is a voter certificate?

Voter certification is the final, ceremonial phase of the electoral process in which ballots are validated, counted and totaled. Importantly, certification is not intended to ensure vote totals are accurate or to detect errors – these checks occur prior to certification.

The exact process for certifying an election varies between states and even within states. In some places there is an electoral board made up of several officials, while in others an elected official certifies the elections. Likewise, at the state level, results may be certified either by an official (e.g., the governor or secretary of state), by the state legislature, or by a multi-member board. Additionally, local and state deadlines for certification vary. You can view the local and statewide deadlines for your state here. The 2022 Electoral Count Reform Act (ECRA) sets a mandatory federal deadline for presidential elections: each state must certify its results by December 12th^Th.

Denial of certification

Before the 2020 election, local election officials rarely voted against certifying elections — it had long been a routine part of the election process. However, in 2020, some local officials in Nevada, Michigan and Georgia refused to certify their jurisdiction's election results. Since November 2020, there have been at least 15 cases of certification denials in eight states, including the election-deciding states of Arizona, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. The delayed certifications in 2020, 2022 and the 2024 primary were based largely on debunked conspiracy theories about systematic voter fraud.

Fortunately, a recent court case in Georgia overturned a new rule set in August by the state Board of Elections that allowed county boards of directors to “inspect all election-related documents produced during the conduct of elections prior to certification…” and give them that Law would have given them the power to refuse to certify responsibility – an unprecedented and unnecessary role for these bodies. The judge ruled that certification was a mandatory requirement and that Georgia voters would be silenced if local election officials were “free to play investigator, prosecutor and judge and therefore – based on a unilateral finding of error or fraud – would refuse to certify election results.”

What this means for 2024

When county or state officials refuse to fulfill their duty to certify elections, other state officials, candidates, and even voters can use the judicial system to force them to fulfill this mandatory responsibility. Some states, like Michigan, have set it up so state officials can certify local results if county officials refuse to do so. In five states, including Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina, courts can appoint someone to certify results if an official refuses to comply with a court order. Additionally, there are legal options to hold officials who refuse to certify elections legally accountable. Recently, a former election official from Cochise County, Arizona, who did not certify the 2022 election, pleaded guilty to “failing in her duty as an election official.” While states have legal options to eventually force officials to certify results, some may still try to delay the process.

There are ways to determine the risk of election denials. These risk factors include close and high-stakes races in 2020, more than 50 different jurisdictions with certifying powers, vote objectors holding key offices, and a number of local officials refusing to certify since 2020. The electorally important states of Georgia and North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are among the higher risk states.

Delays in certification are not without costs: They give conspiracy theories and disinformation time to gain a foothold and spread distrust in our electoral system. The same bad actors who instigated January 6th^Th2020's attack on the Capitol to sow doubt and overturn the will of the people is a strategic and coordinated effort to undermine the results this year – and we shouldn't fall for it. It is important to remember that certification does not occur on election night, even though the media often reports on the “winner” that night. In reality, the routine process of counting votes and certifying elections always takes time, especially as more and more voters use the mail-in voting option.

The good news: We've stopped these attacks before and we can do it again. When local or state officials refuse to certify their election results, effectively refusing to count the votes in their jurisdiction, it is important to speak out and demand that every valid ballot be counted, as the law requires – and officials who abuse their power by refusing to certify may be held legally accountable for their inaction.