One Democratic representative, Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D–OH-11), filed a congressional objection to the certification of Bush's Ohio electoral votes throughout the session, with one Democratic senator, Barbara Boxer (D–CA), signed onto the objections.
Each state and the District of Columbia produces two documents to be forwarded to Congress, a certificate of ascertainment and a certificate of vote. A certificate of ascertainment is an official document that identifies the state's appointed College electors and the tally of the final popular vote count for each candidate in that state[2] in a presidential election;[3][4] the certificate of ascertainment is submitted after an election by the governor of each state to the archivist of the United States[5][6] and others,[7] in accordance with 3U.S.C.§§6–14[8][9] and the Electoral Count Act.[10][11] Within the United States' electoral system, the certificates "[represent] a crucial link between the popular vote and votes cast by electors".[12] The certificates must bear the state seal and the governor's signature. Staff from the Office of the Federal Register ensure that each certificate contains all legally required information.[13] When each state's appointed electors meet to vote (on the first Monday after the second Wednesday of December),[4] they sign and record their vote on a certificate of vote,[9][11] which are then paired with the certificate of ascertainment, which together are sent to be opened and counted by Congress.[14]
The 12th Amendment mandates Congress assemble in joint session to count the electoral votes and declare the winners of the election.[15][16] The Electoral Count Act, a federal law enacted in 1887, further established specific procedures for the counting of the electoral votes by the joint Congress.[17] The session is ordinarily required to take place on January6 in the calendar year immediately following the meetings of the presidential electors.[18] Since the 20th Amendment, the newly elected joint Congress declares the winner of the election; all elections before 1936 were determined by the outgoing Congress.[citation needed]
A state's certificate of vote can be rejected only if both Houses of Congress, debating separately, vote to accept an objection by a majority in each House.[19] If the objection is approved by both Houses, the state's votes are not included in the count. Individual votes can also be objected to, and are also not counted. If there are no objections or all objections are overruled, the presiding officer simply includes a state's votes, as declared in the certificate of vote, in the official tally. After the certificates from all states are read and the respective votes are counted, the presiding officer simply announces the final state of the vote. This announcement concludes the joint session and formalizes the recognition of the president-elect and of the vice president-elect.[1] The senators then depart from the House chamber. The final tally is printed in the Senate and House journals.[citation needed]
Faithless elector
One elector in Minnesota cast a ballot for president with the name of "John Ewards" [sic] written on it.[20] The Electoral College officials certified this ballot as a vote for Edwards for president. The remaining nine electors cast ballots for Kerry. All ten electors in the state cast ballots for Edwards for vice president (Edwards's name was spelled correctly on all ballots for vice president).[21] This was the first time in U.S. history that an elector had cast a vote for the same person to be both president and vice president. Electoral balloting in Minnesota was performed by secret ballot, and none of the electors admitted to casting the Edwards vote for president, so it may never be known who the faithless elector was. It is not even known whether the vote for Edwards was deliberate or unintentional; the Republican Secretary of State and several of the Democratic electors have expressed the opinion that this was an accident.[22]
Joint Session of Congress
Objection to certification of Ohio's electoral votes
On January 6, 2005, Senator Barbara Boxer joined Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio in filing a congressional objection to the certification of Ohio's Electoral College votes due to alleged irregularities including disqualification of provisional ballots, alleged misallocation of voting machines, and disproportionately long waits in predominantly African-American communities.[23][24] Ohio's polling locations and equipment are determined by two Democrats and two Republicans serving on the county's Board of Elections, which ensures that any decision made about polling resources is bipartisan.[25] The Senate voted the objection down 74–1; the House voted the objection down 267–31.[23] At the time, it was only the second congressional objection to an entire U.S. state's electoral delegation in American history; the first instance was in 1877, when all the electors from three Southern states in the 1876 United States presidential election were challenged, and one from Oregon.[23][26] The third instance was in 2021, when Republicans objected to the certification of the electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania. An objection to a single faithless elector was also filed in 1969.[23]
↑ 252 electors pledged to the Kerry/Edwards ticket were elected; however, a faithless elector from Minnesota cast a ballot for Edwards for both president and vice president, bringing the ticket's total number of electoral votes to 251.
↑ With Virginia's 13 electoral votes, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney surpassed the 271 electoral vote threshold, securing victory in the electoral vote count.
↑ "Constitution of the United States: Amendments 11–27". National Archives and Records Administration. Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved January 5, 2021. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted.
↑ Freddoso, David (December 21, 2004). "Does L Stand for Loser?". National Review. Archived from the original on April 11, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
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2004 U.S. presidential election 
