What happens if a candidate challenges the 2024 election results?

AAmericans will have an elected president in the coming days. While there are many checks and balances in place to ensure the security of America's electoral process, there are some ways candidates can challenge the results.

One possible route candidates could take is a recount. The rules for who can request a recount vary by state — some automatically request a recount if the race is within a narrow margin, while others allow candidates to request a recount, according to Matthew Weil, the executive director of the Bipartisan Democracy Program Policy Center. In some states, the margin must be within a certain percentage for candidates to request a recount.

According to Richard Pildes, a professor at New York University School of Law and an expert in constitutional and electoral law, candidates could decide to file a formal contest with the certified results. A campaign could also result in other legal actions challenging some aspect of the election. “If a campaign has a legitimate, factual and legal basis for challenging a contest, disputes over the results should be handled that way,” says Pildes. “If a claim is brought that does not have the appropriate factual and legal basis, then it is an abuse of the system or the process.” It also potentially undermines confidence in the election without legitimate reasons.”

Former President Donald Trump has already begun sowing doubt about the integrity of the outcome if he loses by repeating false and unsubstantiated allegations of fraud in key states. Both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris' campaigns We have legal teams preparing for post-election litigation.

Read more: Your voice is safe

The timeline for resolving electoral disputes is tighter in the presidential election than in other seats. States have until Dec. 10 to resolve any disputes over the presidential election, as Electoral College members meet and cast their votes on Dec. 17.

Both Pildes and Weil say it's rare for one of these paths to change the results of a race. Many experts have stressed that the American electoral process – and your vote – is secure. Weil says the country has further improved the system over the years, for example through audits.

Weil says recounts “very rarely shift numbers by more than double digits,” because even when the margin percentage appears small, it still typically represents thousands of votes. And the hurdle for litigation is high: “You not only have to prove the damage, but you also have to somehow prove that the damage was so great that it affected enough ballots to change the election result,” says Weil.

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False claims about the electoral process spread after the 2020 election, when Trump refused to concede to President Joe Biden. Trump's campaign team and his allies then filed dozens of unsuccessful lawsuits challenging the result.

Experts fear that challenging the results without sufficient evidence could sow distrust in the electoral process. On January 6, 2021, rioters who insisted without evidence that Trump won the election stormed and ransacked the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to prevent the certification of Biden's victory.

“The risk of a series of evidence-free challenges jeopardizes trust in the voting process,” says Weil. “I think it's very clear that when we have candidates who are making claims that they're feeding into a narrative that's out there, that that's going to lead to more distrust in the election.”