(NewsNation) — The voting has finished, and the counting continues even though we know Donald Trump will return to the White House in January, but the process of making Trump’s victory legal and official is far from over.
“Election certification refers to the process of election officials attesting that the tabulation and canvassing of the election are complete and accurate and that the election results are a true and accurate accounting of all votes cast in a particular election,” according to an explanation by the Election Assistance Commission.
The United States’ unique Electoral College system mandates that every state certify the appointment of its electors no later than December 11, which is six days before the Electoral College will meet.
Some states, including several of the battleground states, require audits before certification. Many do it via a “risk-limiting” audit: manually checking a statistical sample of paper ballots.
When December 17 arrives, the electors meet, but not all together. Each state’s chosen electors will meet in their state capital and cast their votes based on their state’s results.
Federal law doesn’t require an elector to vote for the winner of their state’s popular vote, but 38 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws requiring electors to vote for the candidates for whom they’ve pledged to vote.
Those who don’t vote for their state’s winner, the so-called “faithless electors,” have made news in past elections but never altered the results of a state’s vote. In 2016, five Democratic electors failed to vote for Hillary Clinton, and two electors defected from Donald Trump.
Once the electors (and, effectively, the state’s election results) are counted and the vote certified, the results go to Congress. That’s where Kamala Harris, in her position as president of the Senate, will read out each state’s results before Congress certifies the vote.
That will take place on a date seared into American history thanks to the events of four years ago: January 6.