Election Fact Check: County officials are prohibited from certifying election results.

As former President Donald Trump escalates his attacks on the integrity of the upcoming election, experts warn that the election certification process could provide an opportunity for rogue local officials to try to illegally challenge the results.

Local officials are required by law to certify election results, but the process has become increasingly politicized after Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election, with local officials signaling a willingness to ignore their legal duty to certify, according to experts and a recent watchdog report.

The politicization of the certification process comes as Trump has repeatedly questioned the integrity of US elections.

“They want to deceive,” Trump said of his opponents at a Saturday rally in North Carolina. “And they cheat. They cheat like hell.”

Since the 2020 election, more than 30 local election officials in eight states, including key swing states such as Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona, have voted to delay or refuse to certify the election results, according to a report from the watchdog group Citizens for Accountability. and ethics in Washington.

Legal experts say the issues are unlikely to win the upcoming presidential race but could sow further distrust in the integrity of the election.

“I expect there will be local election officials who will refuse to certify the election results,” said Sean Morales-Doyle, a voting rights expert at the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonprofit think tank. “Every time this has been tried before, the courts have quickly put a stop to it… but they can undermine the public’s faith in our process, and that in itself is really harmful.”

Morales-Doyle said officials who refuse to certify election results are often trying to take advantage of a general misunderstanding of their role in the months-long process that follows the November election. Election officials engage in a process called “canvassing” to ensure that every vote is counted in the final count, including examining ballots and confirming the total number of votes cast. Most states also test their election equipment after the election to ensure votes were counted correctly.

Election certification is the final administrative step in the process after preliminary surveys and audits identify and correct irregularities. By certifying election results, election officials are confirming that the previous steps have been completed.

“What they have to do is certify the number of votes they have counted. They shouldn’t pry into the reality of the votes,” said Robert McWhirter, a constitutional lawyer.

Since the 2020 election, local officials in at least eight states have tried to use their largely ministerial election certification responsibilities to delay or deny certification, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

One of those officials – Washoe County, Nevada, Republican Commissioner Michael Clarke – told ABC News that he voted against certifying local election results in July because he believes county officials failed to properly maintain voter rolls.

“I believe the people who run the registrar of voters are failing to keep accurate records,” Clark said. “When I see sloppy accounting, I don’t trust it.”

Washoe County officials have acknowledged problems with some of their repeat ballots but recently upgraded their voter registration system.

After Nevada Attorney General Chris Mays threatened to prosecute Clark for dereliction of duty, he reversed course and allowed the certification to proceed.

In Cochise County, Arizona, a Republican party leader who refused to certify the 2022 midterm elections pleaded guilty last month to a misdemeanor charge, with her probation agreement requiring her to certify the upcoming election. Peggy Judd told ABC News she now has a better understanding of her ministerial responsibilities, but does not agree with the election certification requirement, “no matter how rotten it looks or smells.”

In response to such cases, some courts have strengthened the laws governing certification. Last month, a Georgia judge issued a directive requiring officials to certify election results, rejecting the argument that officials could block the results because of allegations of fraud.

“Georgia election officials have a mandatory, fixed duty to certify the election results,” Judge Robert McBurney wrote. “There are no exceptions.”

This is due to the fact that violations and suspected falsification of election results are identified and eliminated throughout the entire electoral process, including through the election campaign procedure and through contacting law enforcement agencies.

“There are procedures in law when someone alleges that there are some irregularities that could lead to different election results,” said Paul Cox, general counsel for the North Carolina State Board of Elections. “In the absence of this, though, the county election commission has no reason to refuse to certify the vote count.”

After two North Carolina officials refused to certify their district’s 2022 election results, the North Carolina State Board unanimously fired both officials last year.

While efforts to delay or deny certification are likely to be rejected by the courts, experts warn that the efforts themselves could still fuel distrust or play into a broader strategy to cast doubt on election integrity.

“They’ve been planning their strategy for some time now,” Morales-Doyle said of Trump questioning the integrity of the election. “One of the obvious elements of this scenario is an attempt to use various institutions and people in positions of power to lend a semblance of legitimacy to efforts to overturn the election results.”