The Fight To Certify Elections Has Already Begun

Earlier this week, the Rolling Stone published a deep dive investigation into the pro-Trump election deniers who may refuse to certify accurate election results at the county level. 

In the article, I voiced my concern for this possibility, predicting that “we are going to see mass refusals to certify the elections” because Republicans are “counting on the fact that if they don’t certify in several small counties, you cannot certify these statewide results.”

After Rachel Maddow featured the article on MSNBC, my concern quickly reached far and wide, with thousands of people taking to social media and flooding Democracy Docket’s inbox with questions about how this could happen and what can be done to prevent this seemingly new threat.

Except, this isn’t a new threat. I have been fighting against it in court for years.

We first saw Republicans deploy this anti-democratic tactic in the aftermath of the 2020 election.  At the time, I was representing Joe Biden and the Democratic Party in recounts, election contests and litigation brought by Donald Trump and his allies.

As Michigan’s county certification date approached, we learned that the Trump campaign was pushing the GOP members of the Wayne County Canvassing Board to vote against certifying the election results in Detroit. Part of that effort, we have since learned, was a call from Trump himself, along with then-RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, to the local county canvass board members.

Ultimately, this scheme failed as did a subsequent effort to convince the Republican members of the statewide county canvassing board to refuse statewide certification. But its failure was not for lack of effort. 

In 2021, I warned about the need to reform the certification process to prevent these abuses in the future since it was clear from the violent insurrection on Jan. 6 that Trump and his allies would focus their attention on the individual state processes for election certification. To prevent this, I laid out the concrete steps necessary to prevent Republicans from weaponizing certification in the future:

1. Clearly define the power of state officials in the certification process and immediately remove bad actors.
2. Remove unnecessary links in the certification chain.
3. Abolish the requirement that a state’s partisan governor, secretary of state or election board certify the results.

While this wasn’t going to resolve it all, these were three actionable steps that states and Congress could have taken. When that didn’t happen, we then saw Republicans expand the use of weaponizing certification in 2022. 

With fewer than 100 days until the election, Republicans are building an election subversion war machine.

During the midterm primary elections, at least 10 counties — including four in Pennsylvania — refused to certify accurate election results. After the general election, counties in Arizona and Pennsylvania refused to certify election results that saw Democratic candidates for governor, U.S. Senate and Congress prevail.

Once again, my legal team was forced to bring litigation to protect against election subversion. We sued Cochise County, Arizona and Luzerne County, Pennsylvania and won as they ultimately certified their results. Democracy was protected for at least one more election cycle.

But even so, my fear for future elections remained as the “Big Lie” spread by Trump and his allies became core to the Republican Party. 

Over the course of the last year, Republicans have become bolder in their plans to subvert the election results in 2024. They now speak more openly about the need to control the certification process. They litigate more aggressively to be able to subvert election results. They enact new laws and rules explicitly for this purpose.

But it’s worse this election than previous ones because this year, the GOP is far more organized. They might have tried to subvert the results in a handful of places in 2020 and 2022, but this year, they will try to subvert them all, setting the stage now for what’s to come in November.  

With fewer than 100 days until the election, Republicans are building an election subversion war machine.

They have sacrificed traditional get out the vote activity to fund and recruit for their massive voter suppression program. They have a constellation of well-funded legal groups supplanting these efforts with unlimited money and grassroots volunteers. They are sending their lawyers into courthouses around the country to lay the groundwork for their anti-democratic plans.

So what are pro-democracy advocates like me supposed to do about it? Already, we’re fighting back. We’re in court to prevent Republicans from changing the rules so they can cheat later on. The excitement generated by Democratic candidates from top to bottom is aiding in our own volunteer efforts. And, there are dozens of election officials of both parties who take pride in their work and want a free and fair election.

I am glad that people have awoken to the genuine threat posed by election deniers. It is an opportunity for people to remember to check their voter registration status and make a plan to vote. For people with the time, it may motivate them to volunteer as a poll worker or help a local campaign.

Most importantly, for undecided voters, I hope that it sharpens the stake of this election. I hope it causes them to ask why, if the GOP is so sure it offers the best choice for America, it is committed to depriving its citizens of fair election results.