Former governors press for election certification by federal deadline

Former governors pressed for election certification by the federal December deadline, saying the process “is not open to debate” in a Tuesday letter addressed to current governors.

“The voters in each state choose electors. It is the responsibility of all state Governors to confirm which candidate’s electors have been chosen by the voters to serve in the Electoral College,” the ex-governors wrote in their letter, first obtained by Politico. That is done, they said, through “Certificates of Ascertainment of Appointment of Electors,” which detail the winning candidate’s vote tally and the slate of electors.

“We write as bipartisan former Governors with an eye to December 11th. This is the deadline for issuing and sending Certificates of Ascertainment to the National Archives. This is six days before the Electoral College will meet in state capitals across our nation.”

The letter is signed by former Govs. George Allen (R-Va.), Roy Barnes (D-Ga.), Jeb Bush (R-Fla.), Chet Culver (D-Iowa), Jim Douglas (R-Vt.), Parris Glendening (D-Md.), John Kasich (R-Ohio), Ronnie Musgrove (D-Miss.), Roy Romer (D-Colo.), Ted Strickland (D-Ohio), Bruce Babbitt (D-Ariz.), Jim Blanchard (D-Mich.), Tom Corbett (R-Pa.), Gray Davis (D-Calif.), Dave Freudenthal (D-Wyo.), Jim Hodges (D-S.C.), Scott McCallum (R-Wis.), Bill Ritter (D-Colo.) and Mark Schweiker (R-Pa.).

“While there is much to debate on the campaign trail, we expect all candidates and the American people will agree that this time-honored process during our post-election period is not open for debate,” the letter continues. “It is simply a ministerial and administrative duty.”

Ari Mittleman, the executive director of Keep Our Republic, which describes itself on its website as “a non-partisan civic education organization with a unique focus on the unconventional threats facing our election system, and on ways to help strengthen trust in our electoral system,” told The Hill that it “spearheaded” the letter.

When it comes to the presidential election, voters in states are actually voting for presidential electors picked by the parties of their preferred presidential candidate. Those electors come together “on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December,” voting in favor of their own presidential picks, according to a National Archives webpage.

Prior to the voting day of the electors, “seven (7) original Certificates of Ascertainment listing the persons appointed as electors,” are produced by governors, according to the National Archives page. 

“The Executive is required to issue a Certificate no later than 6 days before the electors meet,” the page continues. 

Several states investigated fake elector schemes in the 2020 election.

The alternate electors scheme, spearheaded by Trump lawyer John Eastman and bolstered by other lawyers, relied on former Vice President Mike Pence to certify slates of Trump-supporting “fake” electors in battleground states instead of the true electoral votes cast for Biden.

Fake electors allegedly convened in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Nevada and Wisconsin, claiming without basis that they were “duly elected” electors from their states. 

Former President Trump faces charges in such a case in Georgia.