Erin Mansfield USA TODAY
ANN ARBOR, Mich. − Top election officials in major swing states say they are prepared to take local governments to court if they refuse to certify the 2024 presidential election, a move that could impede an effort to overturn the election if former President Donald Trump loses.
Officials from Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin made the comments in interviews with USA TODAY and at a public event at the University of Michigan on Thursday as they sought to assure the public that they would protect the legitimacy of the election.
“We would immediately take them to court to compel them to certify, and we’re confident − because of how clear the election law is in Pennsylvania − that the courts would expeditiously require the counties to certify their election results,” said Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt.
In battleground states and states where Vice President Kamala Harris is depending on victories to secure an Electoral College majority, county officials have voted against or delayed certifying the results of elections at least three dozen times since 2020 − from the presidential race down to school board recounts.
It’s an outgrowth of Trump and his allies’ strategy to overturn the 2020 election by stopping Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s victory. Local officials who refuse to certify a county’s results in 2024 may intend to stop Harris’ electoral votes from their state from being sent to Congress in the first place. (snip-More)
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