Normally, what happens between Election Day and Inauguration Day is just a series of formalities. But when a president refuses to acknowledge that he lost, and top members of his party acquiesce to his efforts to subvert the democratic process, the arcane procedures by which the will of the people is formalized become matters of public importance.
So let’s take a look.
There are three important dates to remember: Dec. 8, known as the “safe harbor” deadline; Dec. 14, when the Electoral College will convene around the country; and Jan. 6, when Congress will certify the electors’ votes. President Trump and other Republicans could, in theory, throw wrenches into the process at any one of these points, but their efforts are extremely unlikely to succeed.
Here’s how the process normally works: Each state must certify its results before the Electoral College meets. The governor then sends Congress a “certificate of ascertainment” with the certified vote totals and the names of the state’s electors. States that certify their results by Dec. 8, known as the safe harbor deadline, are largely insulated from challenges.
The Electoral College meets and votes, Congress votes to certify, and then the new president is inaugurated.
Republican state legislatures could try to appoint their own, pro-Trump slates of electors, or Mr. Trump and his allies could try to delay the process long enough that states miss the certification deadlines. But that’s really unlikely to survive legal scrutiny. And even if legislatures tried it, federal law would favor the slate of electors certified by the governor.
“I don’t think any of this is likely to happen,” said Paul Smith, vice president of litigation and strategy at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan voting rights group. “Absent some really clear justification, like some massive dysfunction, it’s pretty hard for a legislature to say, ‘We’ve just decided we don’t like democracy anymore.’”
The coming weeks may be chaotic. They may undermine public faith in the electoral process and cement Trump supporters’ false belief that the election was “stolen.” The damage to democratic institutions may be long-lasting. But there is no reason to question that on Jan. 20, President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. will raise his right hand, take the oath of office and become the 46th president of the United States.
— Maggie Astor The New York Times