Tag: vote

If the certification of votes is blocked, our next president could be selected by the next U.S. House of Representatives.

• By Megan Bellamy and Natalie Crawford

Yet again, the outcome of our presidential election this November may come down to one swing state where the vote is close – and where partisan officials unhappy with the outcome may try to cast doubt on the results.

That’s why it’s so concerning that last month in Georgia – a state that former President Donald Trump lost by a narrow margin in 2020 and where prosecutors have criminally charged him over his efforts to overturn his loss – the State Election Board voted 3-2 to impose new rules that require local officials to conduct an undefined “reasonable inquiry” before certifying the results of an election.

Championed by three state board officials who have supported Trump’s false claim that he won Georgia in 2020, the new rules pave the way for partisan officials to delay certification of presidential results past the strict deadline of Nov. 12 at 5 p.m. ET. Last week, the state and national Democratic parties sued to block the new Georgia rules on the grounds that they violate a state law that makes certification a mandatory duty.

Consider this worst-case scenario: If partisans in one key state were to halt the certification of votes, blocking either candidate from reaching the 270 Electoral College votes required to win, our next president could be selected by the next U.S. House of Representatives. However remote that chance, any interference with certifying votes threatens safe and secure elections – and our democracy as a whole.

Let’s start by defining exactly what election certifiers can – and cannot – do. Some partisans would like you to believe otherwise, but election certifiers do not have the authority to challenge the accuracy of the vote count or any of the processes used to administer an election.

Before certification, election systems in every state follow a meticulous series of checks and balances to ensure that only lawful votes are counted and all lawful votes are counted. This happens in three main stages:

Verification: First, a team of trained, often nonpartisan election officials takes steps prescribed by law to verify the eligibility of each vote cast, whether in person or by mail. For in-person voters, that often means showing some form of ID or signing in with poll workers. For mail voters, the majority of states verify voters by checking their signatures – though some require voters to write out an ID number instead.

Counting: After polls close, verified ballots are counted. Workers conducting the count, often representing both major parties, complete paperwork and secure voting materials for transmission to a local election authority. Opening, handling, counting and transporting ballots and other election materials is usually conducted by bipartisan teams in the presence of bipartisan election observers.

Canvassing: Finally, a different set of election professionals review the ballot count and verify all procedures were followed. This process is known as canvassing an election (not to be confused with canvassing for votes, which means knocking on doors or phone-banking for candidates).

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Critically, election certification – the straightforward process by which winners are declared – occurs only after election officials have completed these rigorous verification, counting and canvassing procedures.

Before 2020, local election officials rarely voted against certifying results. Since then, however, election officials in a growing list of states – including Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania – have tried to block certification of votes, without any proof of irregularities or justification for challenging the results. These efforts ultimately failed, but they have shaken Americans’ trust in our electoral system.

With the financial backing of partisan groups such as the America First Policy Institute, founded in 2021 to support Trump’s policy agenda, Trump supporters in Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina and Georgia have challenged the 2020 electoral results without providing evidence to verify their claims, and they are likely to try again this year.

In Georgia, for example, a member of the Fulton County Board of Elections refused to certify this year’s primary vote and filed a lawsuit in state court, asking the court to redefine certification rules, to expand her powers and to grant her access to a wide range of election records, including digital images of specific ballots. Should the court agree with the plaintiff’s claims, it could put voter privacy at risk, allow one individual to delay certification and erode trust in our election systems.

Certification challenges also have the potential to disrupt countless local and state races, up and down the ballot. The stakes could not be higher. This November, we must defend our elections from partisan interference and ensure our election certifiers uphold the will of the American people.

*Megan Bellamy is vice president of law and policy at the Voting Rights Lab, a nonpartisan organization based in Washington, D.C. that promotes free and fair elections.

*Natalie Crawford, a Republican, is a former two-term commissioner of Habersham County, Georgia, and executive director of Georgia First, a nonprofit organization that works on election access and security.

•Source: https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2024-09-04/could-a-swing-state-halt-the-vote-count