A lthough it has national impact, the presidential election is, in essence, 50 state and District of Columbia elections for presidential electors held on the same day throughout the country. The state rules and procedures for filing election contests generally, and with respect to the selection of presidential electors specifically, may vary greatly from state to state. The electoral count law provides that if a contest or challenge in a state to the election or appointment of presidential electors is resolved in that state by an established procedure before the sixth day prior to the meeting of the electors, that such determination shall be "conclusive" and shall "govern" when Congress counts the electoral votes as directed in the Twelfth Amendment. Contests in the State

Under the U.S. Constitution, the states are delegated the initial and principal authority for the administration of elections within their jurisdictions, including elections to federal office. A candidate and/or electors who seek to challenge the results of an election of presidential electors within a state must, therefore, follow those state statutes, procedures, and deadlines for filing such challenges and contests. The complaint must allege one of the four statutory grounds for overturning the results of the election (misconduct, fraud, or corruption of an election official; ineligibility of the successful candidate; receipt of a number of illegal votes or rejection of a number of lawful votes "sufficient to change or place in doubt the result of the election"; or proof of bribery of voters or election officials). Challenges to Electoral Count in Congress

The Twelfth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that Congress shall meet in joint session to count and certify the electoral votes for President. When Congress meets to count the electoral votes in January following the meeting of the presidential electors in December, objections may be made to the counting of electoral votes from a particular state. Any such objection must be presented in writing and must be signed by at least one Senator and one Representative. For an objection to be sustained, it must be agreed to by each house of Congress meeting separately. By way of example, due to alleged voting irregularities in the state, an objection was made to the Ohio electoral votes during the January 2005 joint session . In accordance with federal law, the chambers withdrew from the joint session to consider the objection, but neither the House nor Senate agreed to accept the objection. Regarding their own congressional elections, the House of Representatives and the Senate have adopted a "but for" test, requiring the contestant to prove that "but for" the alleged fraud or irregularity the result of the election would have b een different.
Questions occasionally surface regarding potential voting fraud or election irregularities in presidential elections. (See, for example, Sean Sullivan and Philip Rucker, "Trump's Claim of 'Rigged' Vote Stirs Fears of Trouble," Washington Post, October 18, 2016, p. A1; Edward-Isaac Dovere, "Fears Mount on Trump's 'Rigged Election' Rhetoric," Politico, October 16, 2016; Daniel Kurtzleben, "5 Reasons (And Then Some) Not to Worry About A 'Rigged' Election," NPR, October 18, 2016). If legitimate and verifiable allegations of voting fraud, or indications of misconduct by election officials on election day are presented, what legal recourses are available to complainants to litigate and potentially to remedy such wrongs and to contest the result of a presidential election?
Presidential elections are conducted in each state and the District of Columbia to select "electors" from that state who will meet and formally vote for a candidate for President on the first Monday following the second Wednesday in December. Under the U.S. Constitution, these elections for presidential electors are administered and regulated in the first instance by the states, and state laws have established the procedures for ballot security, tallying the votes, challenging the vote count, recounts, and election contests within their respective jurisdictions. A candidate or voters challenging the results of a presidential election in a particular state would thus initially seek to contest the results of that election in the state according to the procedures and deadlines set out in the laws of that specific state.
After the results of an election for presidential electors are officially certified by the state, the selected presidential electors meet and cast their votes for President in December. The certificates indicating the votes of the electors are then sent to the federal government, and those certificates are opened and the electoral votes formally announced during the first week in January in a joint session of the U.S. Congress, under the directions of the Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution. The counting and the official tabulation of the electoral votes from the states within Congress provides a further opportunity to challenge and protest electoral votes from a state. Under federal law and congressional precedents, an objection may be made to the counting of electoral votes from a state by a formal objection made in writing by at least one Member of the House of Representatives and one Senator. Once made, each house of Congress separately debates and votes on the objection. If both houses of Congress sustain the objection, the electoral votes objected to are not counted; but if only one house, or neither the House nor the Senate, votes to sustain the objection, then the electoral votes from that state are counted.