Is certifying an election a judgment call?

Certification is a mandatory and purely ministerial process in which officials confirm that the election process has concluded, at both the local and state levels. It follows the canvass, the official process of tallying and accounting for every ballot from every precinct and voting method into one complete count.

State statutes make certification a nondiscretionary duty. In Michigan, MCL 168.822(3) makes it the ministerial, clerical and nondiscretionary duty of each board of county canvassers to certify results based solely on the returns from precincts, early voting sites and absent voter counting boards. MCL 168.842(5) places the same duty on the Board of State Canvassers and each of its members, based solely on the certified statements of votes from the counties.