Fake or illegal votes are rare. Voting machines and staff can make minor errors accepting ballots, but there are checks to catch them. The real threat is the perception that fraud is a widespread problem, officials and experts say, if it keeps voters from turning out or fuels unrest.

Local Election Workers Count Votes

Most voters will have a seamless experience casting a mail ballot, but more of these ballots could be challenged in 2024. Some states adopted stricter rules after the 2020 surge in mail voting, such as tighter signature or ID requirements and shorter ballot return windows.

U.S. security agencies say that foreign adversaries cannot alter our election results. Instead, they may spread false claims about the results that put election staff and their work at risk.

Election administrators, who have faced a rise in personal threats since 2020, are preparing for protests, some by hiring security guards and installing panic buttons. Protests could put the timely counting of votes at risk.

Recounts are automatic in some states if the results are close, and candidates and voters can petition or sue for a recount in others. Lawsuits contesting results or alleging fraud could delay the final tally in some places, though courts must move swiftly.

County boards must certify their results once checks are complete. But since 2020, officials in at least 20 counties across eight states have voted to deny or delay certification, with many making false claims of fraud.

States can go to the courts to force boards to certify. It is unlikely, but a lengthy legal battle could prevent a state from certifying its results by the deadline, which could put the counting of its electors at risk.

The Electoral Count Reform Act, passed in 2022, makes clear that the state’s top election official must certify the electors pledged to the candidate who wins the most votes.

Attempts by Trump allies in 2020 to push officials to designate alternate electors in states where he lost would be near impossible under the new law.

Election officials and experts worry that false claims about fraudulent votes and electors could spark protests and put the electors’ ability to vote at risk.

Congress Performs the Final Count

It is possible that some members of Congress could object to a state’s certification of electoral votes. They would need support in both the House and Senate to challenge the results, and a majority of both chambers to reject them.

If no candidate wins a majority of electoral votes, the House would vote to choose the president.

Members of the public who object to the results could protest — as an angry mob did on Jan. 6, 2021 — to try to stop Congress from counting the electoral votes. The Department of Homeland Security has said it will ramp up security on Jan. 6.