The federal “safe harbor” date for state certification of presidential-election results is Tuesday. As Jim Geraghty explains, this means that, as far as the federal government is concerned, a state’s certification of its result is deemed conclusive.
That may not be quite as conclusive as it sounds. There is no federal law that prevents a state from altering its certification between Tuesday (December 8) and next Monday (December 14), when the Electoral College actually casts its votes in each state. But getting a state to reverse its certification would be extraordinarily difficult. Federal courts would almost certainly refuse to entertain a lawsuit challenging the certification at this point. Any challenge would have to be pursued in the state, where the officials would not have certified if they did not consider the matter closed.
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