As election administration is subjected to greater scrutiny, alongside the rise of election denialism and the adoption of anti-democracy language, we must be clear about the terminology governing our elections. Language — the words we choose and how we deploy those words — has immense power.
But simplifying the language of elections is a challenging feat. In our recently released 50 State Post-Vote Guide, we looked at the procedure and timeline of post-vote processes across the country. As we conducted this research, we were struck by the significant variation in the language used to describe our elections. This variation is a product of our unique history, unsurprising in a system defined by federalism. With state legislators responsible for writing the laws that detail how our elections are administered, the terminology is inherently variant, with some laws dating back decades if not centuries. If anything, it’s surprising that there is any consistency at all from state to state.
While variation alone is not necessarily problematic, what it does allow for is confusion, as well as space for false language and unfounded claims about our election processes to creep in. This is especially true when state election processes are examined through a national lens.
It also makes it more difficult to have the depth of understanding needed to properly hold election officials accountable, the vast majority of whom are dedicated public servants, but whose ranks are now more and more being infiltrated by bad actors.
The terminology is critical for clarity and accuracy, and because many duties within election law are ministerial, meaning they are non-discretionary. The officials responsible for carrying out a ministerial duty can not abstain or refuse to undertake these actions, nor can they exceed the duties described in the law. And if they do attempt to refrain from or exceed their authority, they can be compelled by a court to act in accordance with the law — or in some cases also may face individual civil or criminal penalties.
In the following pages, we go in-depth on some of these key election administration terms, including:
Our hope is that by defining this language we can fight back against the inaccurate and twisted language that anti-democracy actors leverage in an attempt to undermine our election system.
The Election Assistance Commission defines the canvass broadly as the "aggregat[ion] or confirm[ation of] every valid ballot cast and counted." This is a process that occurs in most states at the county level for local elections and again at the state level for state and federal races.
This definition is necessarily broad in order to attempt to encompass the variety of how this process works across different states. **In some states, particularly at the state-wide canvass level, the process is little more than an adding together of vote totals provided by the more local election authority. In these cases, the officials may sometimes fix arithmetic errors but often must send the results back down a level to the county or precinct officials if any corrections are necessary. See e.g. Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-499; Fla. Stat. Ann. § 102.111 (2); N.D. Cent. Code, §16.1-15-37.
In other cases, particularly at the local — county or municipal — level, the canvass involves a more direct look at the returns. This might include the review of the proof sheets — the tapes or printed totals from each voting machine — for each precinct to confirm the totals were accurately recorded on the official precinct returns. See e.g. 25 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 3154(d)(2); see also Informing Democracy’s Virginia Report: Canvass and Certification. In those cases, vote totals may be fixed when an error is found on its face, but further investigation into the results may or may not be allowed. For example, in Texas and Iowa opening ballot boxes during the canvass is explicitly prohibited, whereas in Pennsylvania, the election officials are specifically empowered to recount the results if they find a discrepancy. Iowa Code § 50.24(1); 25 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 3154(e). [1]