State officials say lawyers are prepared to force county election officials to quickly certify votes if necessary

Officials in battleground states say lawyers are prepared this Election Day to take legal action against any counties that try to disrupt or delay the vote certification process.

According to Politico, the warnings came after some counties in Arizona, Pennsylvania and New Mexico initially did not certify results after the 2022 midterm elections or only certified them with incomplete counts.

“If you don’t certify a county-level election or a canvass, you will be indicted,” Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes told Politico. “In addition, we sent some, what I would call, strongly worded letters to people to let them know.”

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson also said lawyers had prepared draft legal filings to sue any county that tries to avoid certifying this year's results.

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A voter casts a mail-in ballot as poll workers process mail-in ballots at Portland City Hall on Monday, November 4, in Portland, Maine. (AP/David Sharp)

“We have great lawyers that we work with in the attorney general's office who are also prepared, who were there in 2020 and were ready to go,” Benson told Politico. “It’s more about making sure we can respond quickly and be prepared to ensure the laws are being followed.”

According to a report by The Detroit News, in the last presidential election, former President Trump asked two members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers in Michigan not to certify the results.

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Deputy Elections Department Director Chet Harhut carries a container of mail-in ballots from a secure area at the Allegheny County Elections Department warehouse on Oct. 30 in Pittsburgh. (AP/Matt Freed)

In September, Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer of Georgia's Secretary of State, said during an event hosted by the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation & Research, “There are those who think they can magically stop everything from one county.”… That will isn’t going to happen, and the courts won’t let it happen,” Politico said.

“With the system that we have, with the lawyers that we have, we have planned a lot of this in advance,” he reportedly added.

A person arrives at a polling place in Lansing to cast their early vote on the last day of early voting in Michigan on Nov. 3. (Reuters/Carlos Osorio)

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State election officials tell Politico that local officials are required to certify results and that the task is not optional.