Footnotes:

(a) Delaware law states that the county superior courts constitute its board of canvassers and “shall make . . . the certificates of the results,” but it also provides the governor with a certification role worded differently for presidential, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House elections. Only for the middle office does the phrase “shall certify the election” appear. Many states’ codes are more explicit and less passive about who certifies election results, and don’t make the reader grasp for their particular states’ definition of “to certify.” In this case, as in those other states, there is a generally understood certifying authority, and we don’t deviate from listing it.

(b) Under Illinois statute, the Board of Elections has the role of “canvass[ing] the votes given for United States Senators and Representatives to Congress,” and the governor has a role of “giv[ing] a certificate of election or commission.” Still, the Board of Elections customarily announces certification.

(c) Maine statute required the secretary of state to design and conduct a pilot risk-limiting audit for the November 2024 election, specifically.

(d) A traditional tabulation audit compares paper ballots/records with “the results produced by the voting system” (National Conference of State Legislatures). In South Carolina, the audit compares those results with electronic records, not paper ones, contained on flash drives that store vote records from voting machines.

(e) Under Tennessee law, “The governor shall furnish each person elected with a certificate of election, which shall also be a commission of office, signed by the governor and the secretary of state. The certificate shall be prima facie evidence of election.”

Definitions language: 

For definitions of certain technical terms used in this map, as well as answers to possible questions about the map, click here.