Refusal to certify

Certifying officials — county canvassers, secretaries of state, electors, members of Congress — have a ministerial duty to certify accurate vote totals. Refusing to perform that duty when the results are valid is not an exercise of judgment; it is a refusal to do the job the law assigns. Concrete forms include individual canvassers declining to sign certification, state boards delaying or rejecting certification of legitimate county returns, and members of Congress objecting to slates of electors without legal grounds. Routine, narrow legal disputes raised through proper channels are not refusal. Refusal is what happens when the duty is clear and the official declines to perform it.