(NewsNation) — Officials in some battleground states are telling county and local officials who might be tempted to intervene illegally in the Nov. 5 election or refuse to certify results: Fail to do your duty and risk criminal charges or hefty financial penalties.
In at least five of the seven battleground states that could determine the election, both law enforcement and election officials have previously investigated, indicted and even jailed officials who tried to interfere with the vote or delay certification of results, a necessary but largely ceremonial step.
The most recent high-profile case involved former Mesa County, Colorado Clerk Tina Peters, who was sentenced to nine years in prison for allowing a man to misuse a security card to access the Mesa County election system and for being deceptive about that person’s identity.
County officials have also been warned that failing to certify results on time could force their local governments to foot the bill for unnecessary audits or recounts.
The goal of the increased oversight is to prevent unfounded claims of fraud from slowing the certification of election results, which in turn could interfere with Congress’ certification of the presidential election.
Officials in swing states Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, as well as in solidly Democratic Colorado, said they have become far more adept at handling those who overstep their authority.
Ensuring the election process goes smoothly in each state is critical because states that fail to certify results by certain deadlines could be left out of the state-by-state Electoral College process that formally determines the winners of U.S. presidential elections.
“The law is clear, and we won’t tolerate anyone not following it for any reason,” Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson told Reuters. “There are times and places for challenging election results. The certification process is not one of them,” she added.
