Associated Press: EXPLAINER: Trying to get politics out of election certifying

ATLANTA (AP) — Before the 2020 presidential election, certifying election results in the states was routine and generated little public attention. That has changed.

Attempts to delay presidential certification in Michigan in 2020 and primary results in New Mexico earlier this year have brought new scrutiny to a process that typically takes place quietly in the weeks after Election Day.

Members of certification boards have raised unsubstantiated claims of fraud or other wrongdoing, focusing new attention on a process that could be manipulated if either side didn’t like an election outcome.

Whether partisan actors might try to block or delay certification at the local or state level is a growing concern among election officials, both for the upcoming November midterm voting and then the 2024 presidential election. Here is how election officials prepare for certification, who is involved and what might happen if a county refuses to certify its results. …

In Colorado, a new law requires the secretary of state to review any results not certified by a local board by the deadline and certify them if there is no reason not to. But most states have to rely on the courts.

Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections with Common Cause, said voter advocacy groups are prepared to intervene should partisan actors interfere with certification without justification or if a secretary of state refuses to seek a court order compelling a local board to act.

“That is why we are here, and there will be lot of advocates and lawyers willing and able to step in and file if the secretary is not interested in using their authority or their position to ensure that the votes of their constituents are counted,” Albert said.