Certification and the Electoral Count

After voters cast ballots for President in November, each state counts and certifies its results under state law, and the governor issues a certificate of ascertainment identifying the winning slate of electors. The electors meet in their states in December to cast separate votes for President and Vice President, as the Twelfth Amendment requires, and send their certificates to Congress and the National Archives. The Constitution then directs that the President of the Senate, the Vice President, open the certificates in the presence of both chambers, and the votes are counted.

The disputed election of 1876, which Congress resolved through a special Electoral Commission, led to the Electoral Count Act of February 3, 1887, which set procedures for the joint session but contained ambiguities. After the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which occurred as Congress was counting votes, Congress passed the Electoral Count Reform Act in December 2022. It states that the Vice President's role is solely ministerial, raises the threshold for objecting to a state's electoral votes to one-fifth of the members of each chamber, requires governors to certify a single slate of electors, and allows candidates to sue quickly in federal court over certification disputes.

The joint session is held on January 6 after each presidential election. On January 6, 2025, the count proceeded without objections, with the outgoing Vice President, who had lost the election, presiding over the certification of her opponent's victory. Supporters of the 2022 reforms say they close loopholes that could be used to overturn an election, while some critics argue that Congress should retain broader power to reject electoral votes tainted by fraud, and others favor replacing the Electoral College altogether.