The Path to Certification
From Setup to Certification: Election Administration and Rules
Use our interactive tools to learn how election administration rules vary between states. Read and share the linked reports about the administrative steps that are required on the path to certification.
When you're done, revisit our menu of time-based actions you can take with this information.
Interactive Tools: Election Administration and Certification
Reports - How Elections Work
Catherine Hinckley Kelley and Eric Kashdan, We Voted, Now What? How the President is Elected Campaign Legal Center, campaignlegal.org (September. 18, 2024).
Derek Tisler, Elizabeth Howard, Edgardo Cortés, Roadmap to the Official Count in the 2024 Election, Brennan Center for Justice, brennancenter.org (Updated Sept. 24, 2024). "Election officials take a series of administrative steps to ensure that the vote count — and the final election results — are accurate."
Ballot Counting
Derek Tisler, How Vote Counting Rules Have Changed in Key States Since 2020, Brennan Center for Justice, brennancenter.org (Updated Sept. 23, 2024). "While Michigan made it easier to release results quickly, other key states refused to change outdated restrictions or erected new hurdles."
Derek Tisler, Elizabeth Howard, Edgardo Cortés, Roadmap to the Official Count in the 2024 Election, Brennan Center for Justice, brennancenter.org (Updated Sept. 23, 2024).
"Election officials take a series of administrative steps to ensure that the vote count — and the final election results — are accurate."
Christine Bass, Ballot Counting: A Big Head Start Often Explains an Earlier Finish, votingrightslab.org (Aug. 26, 2024) "In this explainer, Voting Rights Lab takes a look at how the ballot counting process and why some states report election results faster than others."
Voting Rights Lab, Ballot Hand Counts Lead to Inaccuracy, votingrightslab.org (February 2024). "This analysis focuses on the growing movement to force local election officials to hand count ballots and the problems, including inaccuracy, that stem from counting ballots by hand."
Certification
Brennan Center, All Voting is Local, Campaign Legal Center, Protect Democracy; Election Certification Processes and Guardrails Brennancenter.org (September 18, 2024)
Christine Bass, Upholding the Will of the People: Understanding Election Certification votingrightslab.org (May 2024). "In this policy analysis, we takes a look at the election certification process, a non-discretionary, ministerial act where winners are simply declared after the verification, counting, and canvassing processes."
Explainer Videos - U.S. Election Assistance Commission
Be Election Ready: Reporting and Certifying Results
U.S. Election Assistance Commission
Description from EAC YouTube Channel: This video highlights that election results reported on election night are unofficial until all ballots are counted, and results are certified. This video is part of a series emphasizing the importance of patience as officials meticulously canvass and certify the results, ensuring their trustworthiness.
What Happens After I Vote (part 1)
Visit the U.S. Election Assistance Commission for more information
What are Unofficial Results? (part 2)
Visit the U.S. Election Assistance Commission for more information
How do Unofficial Results Become Official? (part 3)
Visit the U.S. Election Assistance Commission for more information
What is the Canvass Report? (part 4)
Visit the U.S. Election Assistance Commission for more information
What Happens After the Canvass? (part 5)
Visit the U.S. Election Assistance Commission for more information