In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, two Republican members of a county canvassing board last month refused to sign off on the results of an election that led to the recall of three GOP members of the county commission. They did so only after state officials warned them it was their legal duty to record the final vote tally.
In Georgia’s Fulton County, which includes the Democratic-voting city of Atlanta, a group run by members of former President Donald Trump’s administration last month sued so a Republican member of the local elections board could refuse to certify the results of the primary election.
And in Arizona, GOP lawmakers sued to reverse the state’s top Democratic officials’ requirement that local boards automatically validate their election results.
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The past four years have been filled with battles over all sorts of election arcana, including one that had long been regarded as an administrative afterthought — little-known state and local boards certifying the results. With the presidential election looming in November, attorneys are gearing up for yet more fights over election certification, especially in the swing states where the victory margins are expected to be tight. Even if those efforts ultimately fail, election officials worry they’ll become a vehicle for promoting bogus election claims.
Trump and his allies have tried to use the tactic to stop election results from being made final if they lose. In 2020, two Republicans on Michigan’s state board of canvassers, which must certify ballot totals before state officials can declare a winner, briefly balked at signing off before one relented and became the decisive vote. Trump had cheered the delay as part of his push to overturn his loss that ultimately culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
A woman stands in protest outside the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors auditorium Nov. 28, 2022, prior to the board’s general election canvass meeting in Phoenix. A ghost from recent election cycles, controversies over certification of results, is beginning to re-emerge as the nation heads closer to the 2024 presidential contest.
During the 2022 midterms, some conservative, rural counties tried to hold up their state election results, citing the same debunked claims of voter fraud that Trump has made.
In New Mexico, rural county supervisors refused to certify the state’s primary vote until they were threatened with prosecution. In Cochise County in southeastern Arizona, two Republican supervisors who refused to certify the local vote totals said they had no doubt their own county’s tally was accurate but were protesting the counts in other counties that gave Democratic candidates for governor, attorney general and secretary of state their victories.
![Election 2024 Certification](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/18/618afbbd-fcb0-5d98-9f5a-0dcc86808288/6662611602480.image.jpg?resize=150%2C100 150w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/18/618afbbd-fcb0-5d98-9f5a-0dcc86808288/6662611602480.image.jpg?resize=200%2C133 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/18/618afbbd-fcb0-5d98-9f5a-0dcc86808288/6662611602480.image.jpg?resize=225%2C150 225w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/18/618afbbd-fcb0-5d98-9f5a-0dcc86808288/6662611602480.image.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/18/618afbbd-fcb0-5d98-9f5a-0dcc86808288/6662611602480.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/18/618afbbd-fcb0-5d98-9f5a-0dcc86808288/6662611602480.image.jpg?resize=540%2C360 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/18/618afbbd-fcb0-5d98-9f5a-0dcc86808288/6662611602480.image.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/18/618afbbd-fcb0-5d98-9f5a-0dcc86808288/6662611602480.image.jpg?resize=750%2C500 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/18/618afbbd-fcb0-5d98-9f5a-0dcc86808288/6662611602480.image.jpg?resize=990%2C660 990w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/18/618afbbd-fcb0-5d98-9f5a-0dcc86808288/6662611602480.image.jpg?resize=1035%2C690 1035w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/18/618afbbd-fcb0-5d98-9f5a-0dcc86808288/6662611602480.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C800 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/18/618afbbd-fcb0-5d98-9f5a-0dcc86808288/6662611602480.image.jpg?resize=1333%2C889 1333w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/18/618afbbd-fcb0-5d98-9f5a-0dcc86808288/6662611602480.image.jpg?resize=1476%2C985 1476w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/18/618afbbd-fcb0-5d98-9f5a-0dcc86808288/6662611602480.image.jpg?resize=1763%2C1176 2008w)
Wayne County Board of Canvassers Republican Chairperson Monica Palmer, left, and Democrat Vice Chair Jonathan Kinloch discuss a motion to certify the election during a board meeting Nov. 17, 2020, in Detroit.
Responding to the certification controversies, Michigan’s Democratic legislature passed a law making clear that state and local canvassing boards must certify election totals. The two Arizona county supervisors are currently facing criminal charges filed by the state’s Democratic attorney general.
Democrats and nonpartisan groups say the thousands of local election oversight boards across the country aren’t the place to contest ballot counts, and that state laws make clear they have no leeway on whether to sign off on their staff’s final tallies.
“Election authorities don’t have the discretion to reject the results of an election because of their vibes,” said Jonathan Diaz of the Campaign Legal Center, adding that lawsuits and recounts are the proper recourse. “They’re there to perform a function. They’re there to certify.”
![Election 2024 Certification](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/ac/fac406ff-7686-5727-8bbe-405f233bb468/6662611ca82a3.image.jpg?resize=150%2C100 150w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/ac/fac406ff-7686-5727-8bbe-405f233bb468/6662611ca82a3.image.jpg?resize=200%2C133 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/ac/fac406ff-7686-5727-8bbe-405f233bb468/6662611ca82a3.image.jpg?resize=225%2C150 225w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/ac/fac406ff-7686-5727-8bbe-405f233bb468/6662611ca82a3.image.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/ac/fac406ff-7686-5727-8bbe-405f233bb468/6662611ca82a3.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/ac/fac406ff-7686-5727-8bbe-405f233bb468/6662611ca82a3.image.jpg?resize=540%2C360 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/ac/fac406ff-7686-5727-8bbe-405f233bb468/6662611ca82a3.image.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/ac/fac406ff-7686-5727-8bbe-405f233bb468/6662611ca82a3.image.jpg?resize=750%2C500 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/ac/fac406ff-7686-5727-8bbe-405f233bb468/6662611ca82a3.image.jpg?resize=990%2C660 990w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/ac/fac406ff-7686-5727-8bbe-405f233bb468/6662611ca82a3.image.jpg?resize=1035%2C690 1035w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/ac/fac406ff-7686-5727-8bbe-405f233bb468/6662611ca82a3.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C800 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/ac/fac406ff-7686-5727-8bbe-405f233bb468/6662611ca82a3.image.jpg?resize=1333%2C888 1333w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/ac/fac406ff-7686-5727-8bbe-405f233bb468/6662611ca82a3.image.jpg?resize=1476%2C984 1476w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/ac/fac406ff-7686-5727-8bbe-405f233bb468/6662611ca82a3.image.jpg?resize=1763%2C1175 2008w)
A man protests outside the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors auditorium Nov. 28, 2022, prior to a general election canvass meeting in Phoenix. Some election officials and Democrats are concerned Republicans will deploy the strategy broadly in the fall if the presidential race is very narrowly decided.
But some Republicans argue that’s going too far. Kory Langhofer, the attorney suing to overturn the election procedures manual’s directive in Arizona that was issued by the Democratic attorney general and secretary of state, said he didn’t support the effort to block certification in Cochise County in 2022. But, he argued, locally elected boards of supervisors have to have some discretion to police elections.
“It seems to me the system is stronger when you have multiple eyes on it,” Langhofer said. Of the efforts to block certification in 2020 and 2022, he added, “I hope that’s behind us.”
Democrats doubt that’s the case. They note that the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump organization run by former officials from his administration, filed the lawsuit in Georgia to let Fulton County Elections Board member Julie Adams vote against certifying elections. Adams’ four other board members voted to certify last month’s primary but Adams abstained last week, contending she couldn’t accept the results given prior election administration problems in the county.
“This action will re-establish the role of board members as the ultimate parties responsible for ensuring elections in Fulton County are free from fraud, deceit, and abuse,” the institute wrote in its release announcing the lawsuit. The group did not respond to a request for comment.
Fulton County is the heart of the Democratic vote in Georgia, and anything that holds up its totals in November could help make it look like Trump has a large lead in the state.
“Trump and MAGA Republicans have made it clear they are planning to try to block certification of November’s election when they are defeated again, and this is a transparent attempt to set the stage for that fight,” Georgia Democratic Party chair and Rep. Nikema Williams said in a statement.
Will 2024 voter turnout be the same as in the 2020 presidential election?
Will 2024 voter turnout be the same as in the 2020 presidential election?
![Will 2024 voter turnout be the same as in the 2020 presidential election?](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/68/168728fb-7c3a-5844-9b2e-6117007c91f1/66006459706ef.image.jpg?resize=150%2C107 150w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/68/168728fb-7c3a-5844-9b2e-6117007c91f1/66006459706ef.image.jpg?resize=200%2C143 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/68/168728fb-7c3a-5844-9b2e-6117007c91f1/66006459706ef.image.jpg?resize=225%2C160 225w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/68/168728fb-7c3a-5844-9b2e-6117007c91f1/66006459706ef.image.jpg?resize=300%2C214 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/68/168728fb-7c3a-5844-9b2e-6117007c91f1/66006459706ef.image.jpg?resize=400%2C285 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/68/168728fb-7c3a-5844-9b2e-6117007c91f1/66006459706ef.image.jpg?resize=540%2C385 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/68/168728fb-7c3a-5844-9b2e-6117007c91f1/66006459706ef.image.jpg?resize=640%2C456 640w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/68/168728fb-7c3a-5844-9b2e-6117007c91f1/66006459706ef.image.jpg?resize=750%2C535 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/68/168728fb-7c3a-5844-9b2e-6117007c91f1/66006459706ef.image.jpg?resize=990%2C706 990w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/68/168728fb-7c3a-5844-9b2e-6117007c91f1/66006459706ef.image.jpg?resize=1010%2C720 1035w)
As 15 states held Democratic and Republican primaries on March 5, Super Tuesday, the number of people who voted and the candidates they selected offered key insight into upcoming the November 5th presidential election. Residents of California, Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Colorado, Minnesota, Alabama, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Utah, Maine and Alaska have determined the fate of roughly one-third of the delegates needed to win the respective party primaries. After the primaries, 530 electoral votes will be up for grabs – with 270 needed to secure the presidency.
Just over two-thirds of adults in the U.S. voted in 2020. But from state to state, the turnout ranged from 54% to 80%, leaving a lot of voting power on the table in some cases. Meanwhile, small reallocations of electoral votes will affect 13 states this election cycle. With this in mind, SmartAsset ranked each state by the percent of citizen adults who voted in the 2020 presidential election.
Key findings
![Key findings](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/81/08113b07-b318-5555-93a8-a61211f01547/65fa28dc54258.image.png?resize=150%2C151 150w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/81/08113b07-b318-5555-93a8-a61211f01547/65fa28dc54258.image.png?resize=200%2C201 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/81/08113b07-b318-5555-93a8-a61211f01547/65fa28dc54258.image.png?resize=225%2C226 225w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/81/08113b07-b318-5555-93a8-a61211f01547/65fa28dc54258.image.png?resize=300%2C302 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/81/08113b07-b318-5555-93a8-a61211f01547/65fa28dc54258.image.png?resize=400%2C402 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/81/08113b07-b318-5555-93a8-a61211f01547/65fa28dc54258.image.png?resize=540%2C543 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/81/08113b07-b318-5555-93a8-a61211f01547/65fa28dc54258.image.png?resize=640%2C644 640w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/81/08113b07-b318-5555-93a8-a61211f01547/65fa28dc54258.image.png?resize=750%2C754 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/81/08113b07-b318-5555-93a8-a61211f01547/65fa28dc54258.image.png?resize=990%2C996 990w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/81/08113b07-b318-5555-93a8-a61211f01547/65fa28dc54258.image.png?resize=1035%2C1041 1035w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/81/08113b07-b318-5555-93a8-a61211f01547/65fa28dc54258.image.png?resize=1080%2C1086 1200w)
- Minnesota had the highest voter turnout in 2020 at 80%. Minnesota had the highest turnout countrywide at 79.7% of the adult citizen population. Colorado placed second with 79.0%, Maine third with 77.4%, Washington fourth at 76.5% and Oregon fifth at 76.4%.
- Higher voter turnout leaned heavily blue, while lower voter turnout swung heavily red in 2020. Out of the top 10 states with the highest turnouts for the 2020 election, only one of 89 electoral votes was red. Of the 10 states with the lowest turnouts, only nine of 101 electoral college votes were blue.
- Florida had the highest voter turnout of red-voting states in 2020. Still, no Southern state made it to the top 10. Florida placed 14th with a 72.3% voter turnout, and North Carolina placed 15th with approximately the same turnout.
- Less than 60% of citizens over 18 voted in five states. Oklahoma had the lowest voter turnout in 2020 at 54.7%. Arkansas (54.9%), West Virginia (55.6%), Hawaii (56.8%) and Mississippi (58.7%) also had some of the lowest turnouts.
- States that flipped from red to blue in 2020 had average or above average voter turnout. Despite being red in 2016, Wisconsin (75.1%), Michigan (73.6%), Pennsylvania (70.7%) voters turned out to flip the state last election. While Arizona and Georgia also flipped, slightly less than the U.S. average turned out to vote at 67.0% and 66.8%, respectively.
- Texas gets two more electoral votes this year. Texas had the sixth-lowest voter turnout at 60.9%, but the state now has 40 electoral votes compared to 38 in 2020. Five other states get one more electoral vote this year: Florida (72.4% turnout in 2020), North Carolina (72.3%), Colorado (79.0%), Oregon (76.4%) and Montana (73.3%).
- These states lost electoral votes for 2024. California still has the most electoral votes at 54 in 2024, despite losing one from the last election cycle. Last election, California had a 67.9% turnout. New York (62.9% turnout in 2020), Illinois (66.5%), Pennsylvania (70.7%), Ohio (66.9%), Michigan (73.6%) and West Virginia (55.65) also lost one electoral vote each for 2024.
10 counties with the highest voter turnout in the 2020 presidential election
![10 counties with the highest voter turnout in the 2020 presidential election](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/b1/5b100cd7-2bf2-505c-b9e2-3e0c7d534974/66006459c1e62.image.png?resize=150%2C152 150w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/b1/5b100cd7-2bf2-505c-b9e2-3e0c7d534974/66006459c1e62.image.png?resize=200%2C203 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/b1/5b100cd7-2bf2-505c-b9e2-3e0c7d534974/66006459c1e62.image.png?resize=225%2C228 225w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/b1/5b100cd7-2bf2-505c-b9e2-3e0c7d534974/66006459c1e62.image.png?resize=300%2C304 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/b1/5b100cd7-2bf2-505c-b9e2-3e0c7d534974/66006459c1e62.image.png?resize=400%2C406 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/b1/5b100cd7-2bf2-505c-b9e2-3e0c7d534974/66006459c1e62.image.png?resize=540%2C548 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/b1/5b100cd7-2bf2-505c-b9e2-3e0c7d534974/66006459c1e62.image.png?resize=640%2C649 640w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/b1/5b100cd7-2bf2-505c-b9e2-3e0c7d534974/66006459c1e62.image.png?resize=750%2C761 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/b1/5b100cd7-2bf2-505c-b9e2-3e0c7d534974/66006459c1e62.image.png?resize=990%2C1005 990w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/b1/5b100cd7-2bf2-505c-b9e2-3e0c7d534974/66006459c1e62.image.png?resize=1035%2C1050 1035w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/globegazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/b1/5b100cd7-2bf2-505c-b9e2-3e0c7d534974/66006459c1e62.image.png?resize=1080%2C1096 1200w)
Rankings are based on the percent of resident citizens aged 18 and over who voted in the last presidential election.
- Garfield County, MT: 99.8%
- Grand Isle County, VT: 99.6%
- Hanson County, SD: 99.5%
- Ouray County, CO: 97.5%
- Mineral County, CO: 95.9%
- Hinsdale County, CO: 95.0%
- Dukes County, MA: 95.0%
- Douglas County, CO: 94.7%
- Borden County, TX: 94.5%
- Leelanau County, MI: 94.3%
10 counties with the lowest voter turnout in the 2020 presidential election
Rankings are based on the percent of resident citizens aged 18 and over who voted in the last presidential election.
- Chattahoochee County, GA: 19.4%
- Lake County, TN: 32.9%
- Wheeler County, GA: 35.0%
- Oglala Lakota County, SD: 35.5%
- Lincoln County, AR: 35.7%
- Pulaski County, MO: 36.3%
- Reeves County, TX: 36.5%
- Crowley County, CO: 36.6%
- St. Francis County, AR: 36.9%
- Telfair County, GA: 37.1%
Data and methodology
Data is for 2023 and comes from County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. Voter turnout is based on the percentage of the citizen population aged 18 and over who voted in the U.S. Presidential election in 2020.
This story was produced by SmartAsset and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media.