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Key deadlines for the 2024 election results certification process
President-elect Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race, but several key dates are still ahead in the certification process before he takes the oath of office for his second term.
Though considered bureaucratic in the past, the certification process has come under increased public scrutiny since the 2020 election, when Trump and his allies pushed false, unproven claims of widespread voter fraud and unsuccessfully challenged the results in court.
Election officials and experts repeatedly stress that U.S. elections are free and fair.
The disinformation campaign ultimately culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol that briefly delayed a joint session of Congress from certifying the 2020 election results. Trump has been charged with four counts in a case brought by special counsel Jack Smith stemming from his post-election conduct.
In late 2022, as a direct response to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Congress passed the Electoral Count Reform Act to tighten and clarify the rules of the electoral certification process.
Here are the key presidential election certification dates for battleground states, the Electoral College and Congress.
Battleground state certification deadlines
Arizona
State deadline: Nov. 25, 2024
County boards of supervisors have until Nov. 21 to officially count votes in a process known as the “canvass.” Upon completion, the boards must send a copy to the secretary of state, who has until Nov. 25 to finish the statewide canvass and issue certificates of election.
Georgia
State deadline: Nov. 22, 2024
County election superintendents must certify results by 5 p.m. ET on Nov. 12 and immediately send them to the secretary of state, who has until 5 p.m. on Nov. 22 to certify the votes cast and transmit them to the governor.
Michigan
State deadline: Nov. 25, 2024
Boards of county canvassers must complete a canvass of the election by Nov. 19 and forward the results to the secretary of state within 24 hours. The Board of State Canvassers must then meet to finish its canvass and certify the outcome by Nov. 25.
Nevada
State deadline: Nov. 26, 2024
Boards of county commissioners must finish the canvass of ballot returns and send the results to the secretary of state by Nov. 15. A majority of justices from the Nevada Supreme Court must then meet with the secretary of state by Nov. 26 to canvass the vote. Once the statewide canvass is done, the governor will issue certificates of election.
North Carolina
State deadline: Dec. 2, 2024
County boards of elections must meet at 11 a.m. ET on Nov. 15 to canvass the votes and mail abstracts — forms showing the votes cast for each candidate — to the State Board of Elections and Clerk of the Court. The State Board of Elections will then meet at 11 a.m. on Nov. 26 to conduct a statewide canvass. Barring any protest, the state board will issue certificates of election on Dec. 2. If a protest is pending, the state board could delay certification until 10 days after its final decision on the matter.
Pennsylvania
Deadline: Nov. 25, 2024
County boards of elections must submit unofficial results to the secretary of the commonwealth by 5 p.m. on Nov. 12. If after five days there are no petitions for recounts or recanvasses filed, the county boards will certify the results with the secretary of the commonwealth. Boards must certify by Nov. 25 even in the event of a recount or a recanvass. The secretary will then conduct a statewide canvass and present the results to the governor, for which there is no state deadline.
Wisconsin
State deadline: Dec. 1, 2024
County clerks have until Nov. 19 to deliver certified vote statements to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. The commission chair must then conduct a public canvass and certify the results by Dec. 1.
Full Electoral College election results certification deadline
Safe harbor deadline: Dec. 11, 2024
Under federal law, states have until Dec. 11 to certify election results, known as the safe harbor deadline.
Meeting: Dec. 17, 2024
After this date, state election results become finalized. On Dec. 17, Electoral College electors will meet and cast votes for the presidential candidates according to the will of their states. The results are then sent to Congress.
U.S. Congress election results certification deadline
Certification deadline: Jan. 6, 2025
On Jan. 6, 2025, four years after the assault on the Capitol, the House of Representatives and the Senate will convene to count and finalize the votes cast by the Electoral College. Lawmakers can object to a state’s electors, but the 2022 Electoral Count Act raised the necessary threshold to one-fifth of the House and Senate to proceed with the objection.
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Renad Atallah is an unlikely internet sensation: a 10-year-old chef, with a repertoire of simple recipes, cooking in war-torn Gaza. She has nearly a million followers on Instagram, who’ve witnessed her delight as she unpacks parcels of food aid.
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We interviewed Renad via satellite, though we were just 50 miles away, in Tel Aviv. [Israel doesn’t allow outside journalists into Gaza, except on brief trips with the country’s military.]
“There are a lot of dishes I’d like to cook, but the ingredients aren’t available in the market,” Renad told us. “Milk used to be easy to buy, but now it’s become very expensive.”
I asked, “How does it feel when so many people like your internet videos?”
“All the comments were positive,” she said. “When I’m feeling tired or sad and I want something to cheer me up, I read the comments.”
We sent a local camera crew to Renad’s home as she made Ful, a traditional Middle Eastern bean stew. Her older sister Noorhan says they never expected the videos to go viral. “Amazing food,” Noorhan said, who added that her sibling made her “very surprised!”
After more than a year of war, the Gaza Strip lies in ruins. Nearly everyone has been displaced from their homes. The United Nations says close to two million people are experiencing critical levels of hunger.
Hamada Shaqoura is another chef showing the outside world how Gazans are getting by, relying on food from aid packages, and cooking with a single gas burner in a tent.
Shaqoura also volunteers with the charity Watermelon Relief, which makes sweet treats for Gaza’s children.
In his videos online, Shaqoura always appears very serious. Asked why, he replied, “The situation does not call for smiling. What you see on screen will never show you how hard life is here.”
Before dawn one recent morning in Israel, we watched the UN’s World Food Program load nearly two dozen trucks with flour, headed across the border. The problem is not a lack of food; the problem is getting the food into the Gaza Strip, and into the hands of those who desperately need it.
The UN has repeatedly accused Israel of obstructing aid deliveries to Gaza. Israel’s government denies that, and claims that Hamas is hijacking aid.
“For all the actors that are on the ground, let the humanitarians do their work,” said Antoine Renard, the World Food Program’s director in the Palestinian territories.
I asked, “Some people might see these two chefs and think, well, they’re cooking, they have food.”
“They have food, but they don’t have the right food; they’re trying to accommodate with anything that they can find,” Renard said.
Even in our darkest hour, food can bring comfort. But for many in Gaza, there’s only the anxiety of not knowing where they’ll find their next meal.
For more info:
Story produced by Mikaela Bufano. Editor: Carol Ross.
See also:
“Sunday Morning” 2024 “Food Issue” recipe index
Delicious menu suggestions from top chefs, cookbook authors, food writers, restaurateurs, and the editors of Food & Wine magazine.
