# How a Canvassing Board Is Composed Certifying an election is a clerical act. Somebody adds up the returns the precincts sent in, signs a statement that those are the numbers, and the election is over. [[State Canvass Deadline Crosswalk]] maps when that has to happen, and [[How a Midterm Election Is Certified]] maps the whole sequence from the precinct count to a seated member of Congress. This page maps the one question those two have to assume: **who is in the room.** The answer is stranger than the job. In most of the states below, the body that certifies an election is not an election body at all — it is the county's general-purpose governing board, the same people who set the property-tax rate, sitting in a second hat for one afternoon. In Texas it is the commissioners court. In New Mexico and West Virginia it is the county commission, named *ex officio* in the statute. In Pennsylvania it is the county commissioners, who are themselves on the ballot much of the time. Four of the fourteen states read for this page route the job to a purpose-built board instead, and two of those put a judge on it. The organising fact is what happens when you ask whether that body has to be politically balanced. There is no American answer to that question. There are seven, they contradict one another, and two of them are opposite constitutional commitments. Michigan's constitution forbids any board of canvassers from having a single-party majority. Virginia's statute **requires** one, and awards it to the party that won the last governor's race. Pennsylvania requires only that the minority be represented at all. New York requires exact parity. Wisconsin requires only that one of the county clerk's two appointees not share the clerk's party — and lets the clerk choose both of them. Colorado seats appointees of the two party chairs who hold no public office whatsoever. Florida sets no party rule at all and hands the chair to a judge. The second fact is the reassuring one. A deadlock is almost never a halt. Michigan requires at least one member of each party to concur in any action, which sounds like a licence to jam the count — until you read fourteen days further, where a county board that has not certified must ship its records to the state board, which has to certify by day twenty. Ohio sends a split board's question to the secretary of state, who "shall summarily decide." Colorado lets a majority sign and routes the refusal into a written report. In each design examined here the exit from a deadlock moves the decision somewhere else rather than stopping it — up one level in Michigan, to a single partisan officeholder in Ohio, into a filed document in Colorado — and in two of those three it ends with one person's signature. > [!note] How to read this chart > `■` = the layer being mapped · `◆` = a design family · `├─` `└─` = members or examples > within it · `★` = the body that issues the final certificate for federal office in that state · > `◎` = **a point where one official decides alone, with no body and no vote** · > `☐` = **the statute's only disqualification is inability to serve — candidacy is not a bar** · > `⊘` = a safeguard the statute does not provide at all · `✕` = a seat or body absent or vacant · > `⚑` = a pressure point in the 2026 cycle · `◈` = a count derived on this page rather than > published anywhere · `·` separates peer items on one line · `[brackets]` = a dated note or > caveat. Everything inside the fence is plain text; linked pages appear in the prose, Notes and > See also. **Fourteen states were read at the statute or constitution** for this page and > thirty-six were not; the fourteen cover every design family found, which is not the same as > covering the country. ``` HOW A CANVASSING BOARD IS COMPOSED — who is in the room when an election is certified │ Legend: ■ layer ◆ design family ★ final federal certificate ⊘ safeguard not provided │ ◎ one official deciding alone, with no body and no vote │ ☐ the only disqualification is inability to serve — candidacy is not a bar │ ✕ absent or vacant ⚑ 2026 pressure point ◈ derived here · peer items │ Fourteen states read at the statute or constitution, November 2026. Thirty-six not drawn. │ ■ A. THE DUTY THE BOARD HOLDS — clerical by design, and said so in one constitution │ Michigan wrote the words into its constitution — art. II, § 7(3), as that section has │ read since the amendment voters approved on 8 November 2022: │ "It shall be the ministerial, clerical, nondiscretionary duty of a board of canvassers, │ and of each individual member thereof, to certify election results based solely on" │ the counties' certified statements, or, for a county board, the precinct returns. │ ├─ § 7(7) defines the verb: "to certify" means to make a signed, written statement. │ │ The entire job is arithmetic and a signature. │ └─ ★ § 7(3) also makes the state board "the only body or entity in this state authorized │ to certify the results of an election for statewide or federal office." │ ⚑ Which is why composition is the live question. A body with no discretion is still a body │ with a pen, and nothing stands between the arithmetic and the certificate but whoever │ is holding it. │ ├─◆ B. THE LOCAL BODY — seven designs, and the commonest is not an election board at all │ │ │ ├─ B1. THE COUNTY'S GENERAL-PURPOSE GOVERNING BOARD, ex officio ....... the common case │ │ TX .. the commissioners court canvasses every election the governor or the county │ │ ordered. Elec. Code § 67.002(a)(1). No party rule · no judge · no election │ │ officer as such. Convenes no later than the 11th day. § 67.003(b) │ │ NM .. "The board of county commissioners is ex officio the county canvassing board │ │ in each county." NMSA § 1-13-1 │ │ WV .. the county commissioners are "ex officio a board of canvassers," meeting at │ │ the courthouse on the fifth day after the election. W. Va. Code § 3-6-9(a) │ │ AZ .. the county board of supervisors canvasses and may not postpone past the third │ │ Thursday after a general election. A.R.S. § 16-642(A)(1), (C) │ │ PA .. the county commissioners sit as the county board of elections, ex officio and │ │ without extra pay. 25 P.S. § 2641(b) │ │ │ ├─ B2. A PURPOSE-BUILT PARTY-BALANCED BOARD ........................... MI · OH · NY │ │ MI .. 4 members. Each county party committee submits three names and the county │ │ board of commissioners picks one per seat; "A political party shall not be │ │ represented by more than 2 members on the board of county canvassers at any │ │ 1 time." MCL 168.24a, 168.24c. An elected officeholder may not serve at all, │ │ and an election-offence conviction is a permanent bar. MCL 168.24b │ │ OH .. 4 members appointed by the SECRETARY OF STATE as the secretary's own │ │ representatives — two from the party with the most gubernatorial votes, two │ │ from the next. Four-year terms from March 1 of odd years. R.C. 3501.06 │ │ NY .. two commissioners, or four by local law in a county above 120,000; the major │ │ parties "shall be eligible to recommend appointment of an equal number of │ │ commissioners." N.Y. Elec. Law § 3-200 │ │ │ ├─ B3. NAMED OFFICIALS, CHAIRED BY A JUDGE ................................... FL │ │ The supervisor of elections, the chair of the board of county commissioners, and │ │ "a county court judge, who shall act as chair." Fla. Stat. § 102.141(1) │ │ ├─ A member who is a candidate with opposition, or who is "an active participant" │ │ │ in a candidate's campaign, must be replaced. § 102.141(1)(a)–(d) │ │ ├─ The appointer of last resort is a judge: where no substitute can be seated under │ │ │ the other paragraphs, the chief judge of the circuit appoints an elector. │ │ └─ ⊘ No party rule of any kind applies to this board. │ │ │ ├─ B4. A COURT-APPOINTED BOARD WITH A GUARANTEED PARTISAN MAJORITY ........... VA │ │ 3 members appointed by the chief judge of the circuit. "Two electoral board members │ │ shall be of the political party that cast the highest number of votes for Governor." │ │ Va. Code § 24.2-106. Three-year staggered terms, one expiring each year. │ │ └─ The bars are personal rather than partisan: no spouse or close relative of a │ │ member or of the general registrar, no candidate for a local office, no party │ │ committee chair, no paid campaign worker. │ │ │ ├─ B5. THE CLERK PLUS PRIVATE PARTY APPOINTEES ............................... CO │ │ Each major party's county chair appoints one or more registered electors at least │ │ fifteen days out; "The appointees, together with the county clerk and recorder, │ │ constitute the county canvass board." C.R.S. § 1-10-101(1)(a) │ │ ├─ ⚑ The appointees hold no public office. They are the party's people, named by │ │ │ the party, seated on the body that certifies the county. │ │ └─ If a party has no chair or vice-chair, or the seat is vacant on the day, the │ │ clerk fills it "as nearly in compliance with the intention of this section as │ │ possible." § 1-10-101(1)(b) │ │ │ ├─ B6. THE CLERK APPOINTS THE BOARD THAT REVIEWS THE CLERK ................... WI │ │ "The county clerk and 2 qualified electors of the county appointed by the clerk │ │ constitute the county board of canvassers." Wis. Stat. § 7.60(2) │ │ ├─ The only party rule is that one appointee "shall belong to a political party │ │ │ other than the clerk's." The clerk chooses both of them. │ │ └─ ⚑ The clerk may canvass an election the clerk is standing in, so long as no │ │ opponent's name appears on the ballot — and in a recount, so long as the office │ │ the clerk is seeking is not one of the offices being recounted. │ │ │ └─ B7. WHATEVER A BILL IN THE LEGISLATURE SAYS ............................... GA │ A local Act of the General Assembly creates and composes a county's board of │ elections, and where one is in effect it controls. O.C.G.A. § 21-2-40 │ ├─ A general-law default exists, but it bites only where no local Act does: a │ │ county still run by the PROBATE JUDGE as superintendent had to create a board │ │ by 15 December 2024 — three members appointed by the county governing │ │ authority, expandable to five by ordinance, four-year terms, removable for │ │ cause after notice and hearing, and the board picks its own chair. │ │ O.C.G.A. § 21-2-40.1(b) │ ├─ ⊘ Party recommendations are not binding. The two leading parties' committees │ │ may submit names and the appointing authority need not appoint them. │ └─ ⚑ So the composition of the body that certifies a Georgia county is a question │ about that county's own bill, and the General Assembly can amend it. │ ├─◆ C. THE STATE BODY — four designs, and two of them are a single person │ │ │ ├─ C1. ★ A BIPARTISAN BOARD, WITH A CONSTITUTIONAL BALANCE RULE ............... MI │ │ 4 members. Each party's state central committee sends the governor three names and │ │ the legislative party leaders one each; the governor must pick one of the five by │ │ 20 January of an odd year, for a four-year term. MCL 168.22, 168.22a, 168.22b │ │ └─ Mich. Const. art. II, § 7(2): "A majority of any board of canvassers shall not │ │ be composed of members of the same political party." No candidate for a │ │ canvassed office and no election inspector may serve. │ │ │ ├─ C2. ★ A CONSTITUTIONAL BOARD WITH A JUDGE ON IT ........................... NM │ │ The secretary of state, "with the governor and chief justice, shall constitute the │ │ state canvassing board." N.M. Const. art. V, § 2 — a constitutional body, convening │ │ at the capitol on the Tuesday three weeks after the election. NMSA § 1-13-15 │ │ └─ ⚑ A sitting chief justice signs the certificate, and the court that chief justice │ │ leads is where a challenge to it would land. │ │ │ ├─ C3. ★ ELECTED OFFICERS, WITNESSED OR SELECTED ...................... FL · AZ · TX │ │ FL .. the Elections Canvassing Commission is "the Governor and two members of the │ │ Cabinet selected by the Governor," all ex officio; the governor fills a seat │ │ from the remaining Cabinet if a member cannot serve. Fla. Stat. § 102.111 │ │ └─ ☐ The only stated trigger is inability to serve "for any reason." Being a │ │ candidate is not a disqualification at this level, though it is at the │ │ county level in the same state. │ │ AZ .. ◎ the secretary of state canvasses, on the third Monday after a general │ │ election — and the witness panel changes with the question: the governor and │ │ the attorney general for the offices, the governor and the CHIEF JUSTICE for │ │ constitutional amendments and ballot measures. A.R.S. § 16-648 │ │ TX .. ◎ "The governor shall conduct the state canvass at the time set by the │ │ secretary of state," between the 15th and 30th day. Elec. Code § 67.012 │ │ │ └─ C4. ★ ◎ ONE SEAT ON A SIX-MEMBER COMMISSION ............................... WI │ The chairperson of the elections commission, or a designee the chairperson names │ for that election, "shall publicly canvass the returns and make his or her │ certifications and determinations," prepares the certificate of determination, and │ concludes the canvass within ten days. Wis. Stat. § 7.70(3)(a), (c), (g) │ └─ ⚑ The commission itself is six members with no tiebreaker — two named by the │ governor and one each by the four legislative leaders — but the certificate is │ one person's signature. The body that can deadlock does not sign. │ ├─◆ D. THE SEVEN ANSWERS — must the body that certifies be politically balanced? │ │ ◈ Seven distinct rules across the nine states below — Ohio's two-and-two and New │ │ York's parity are the same rule reached by different appointing routes. Counted │ │ here by reading the statutes against one another; nobody publishes this tally. │ │ Grid kept plain so the columns hold in any monospace font. │ │ STATE WHAT THE LAW REQUIRES OF THE BOARD'S POLITICS WHERE IT SAYS SO │ ----- ---------------------------------------------------- ---------------------- │ MI NO single-party majority on ANY board of canvassers, Const. art. II, § 7(2) │ state or county. A party-line board is unlawful. │ │ VA A single-party majority is REQUIRED, and it goes to Va. Code § 24.2-106 │ the party that won the last governor's race: two of │ the three seats. │ │ NY EXACT PARITY. The major parties are each eligible to Elec. Law § 3-200 │ recommend an equal number of commissioners. │ │ PA A FLOOR, not a ratio: "there shall be minority 25 P.S. § 2641(b) │ representation on the board." If the commissioners │ do not supply it, the county's legislative body │ appoints from the minority chairman's list. │ │ WI ONE of the clerk's two appointees must belong to a Wis. Stat. § 7.60(2) │ party other than the clerk's. The clerk picks both │ of them. │ │ CO PARTY APPOINTEES, NOT OFFICIALS. Each major party's C.R.S. § 1-10-101(1) │ county chair appoints one or more electors, who sit │ with the clerk. │ │ OH TWO AND TWO, appointed by one statewide partisan R.C. 3501.06 │ officeholder as that officeholder's own │ representatives. │ │ FL NOTHING. No party rule at either level. The county Fla. Stat. § 102.141 │ board is chaired by a judge; the state commission is │ the governor plus two Cabinet members he selects. │ │ GA NOTHING BINDING. Party committees may submit names; O.C.G.A. § 21-2-40.1 │ the appointing authority need not use them, and a │ local Act may say something else entirely. │ │ ⚑ The two poles are constitutional commitments pointing in opposite directions. │ Michigan's charter forbids the thing Virginia's statute requires. Both states think │ they are protecting the count from partisanship; one does it by denying either party │ control and the other by giving control to the party that most recently won. │ ├─◆ E. DEADLOCK — what a split board can actually do, which is less than it looks │ │ │ ├─ MI .. ⊘ NO TIEBREAKER EXISTS, and none is needed. On either board "no action becomes │ │ effective unless 1 member from each political party represented concurs." │ │ MCL 168.24e(1); MCL 168.22d(2) for the state board. │ │ └─ The escape is a HANDOFF, not a halt. A county board that has not certified by │ │ the FOURTEENTH day after the election "shall immediately deliver to the │ │ secretary of the board of state canvassers all records"; the state board │ │ "shall meet immediately" and must certify by the TWENTIETH day. The county │ │ canvassers must attend, and the county pays. MCL 168.822(1)–(2) │ │ ⚑ So a deadlocked Michigan county board cannot stop a certification. It can only │ │ move the decision one level up, to a board with the same balance rule. │ │ │ ├─ OH .. ◎ ONE OFFICIAL, AND THE ANSWER IS FINAL. "In all cases of a tie vote or a │ │ disagreement in the board," the director or chairperson must submit the question │ │ to the secretary of state within fourteen days; the secretary "shall summarily │ │ decide the question," and that decision "shall be final." R.C. 3501.11(X) │ │ ⚑ The design built to deny either party a majority resolves its own deadlocks by │ │ handing the question to a single partisan statewide officeholder — who also │ │ appointed all four members. R.C. 3501.06 │ │ │ ├─ CO .. A MAJORITY IS ENOUGH. "A majority of canvass board members' signatures shall be │ │ sufficient to certify the abstract of votes cast in any election." If the board │ │ cannot certify, it must send the non-certified abstract to the secretary of state │ │ with "a written report detailing the reason for noncertification." │ │ C.R.S. § 1-10-101.5(1)(c) │ │ └─ A refusal therefore produces a document rather than a vacuum: the reason has │ │ to be written down and filed. │ │ │ ├─ WI .. ⊘ The question barely arises at the state level, because the certificate is one │ │ person's. Wis. Stat. § 7.70(3)(g) │ │ │ └─ MI .. TIES IN THE RESULT, as distinct from ties on the board, are drawn by lot: the │ state board resolves a statewide or federal tie "by the drawing of lots under │ rules promulgated by the board of state canvassers," and a county board resolves │ a county tie itself "under procedures prescribed by law." │ Mich. Const. art. II, § 7(4) │ ├─◆ F. WHERE THE BOARD HAS REAL DISCRETION — three places, and two of them pick a winner │ │ │ ├─ WV .. ⚑ THE CANVASSERS ELECT THE OFFICEHOLDER. On a tie, the body that declared the │ │ result "shall decide the tie by the election of one of such persons" — the county │ │ board of canvassers for a county office, the governor for a statewide one. If the │ │ county board has not resolved it within THIRTY DAYS, any tied candidate may apply │ │ to the governor, who then chooses, certifies the choice to the board, and declares │ │ that person elected. W. Va. Code § 3-6-12 │ │ │ ├─ TN .. ⚑ THE COUNTY LEGISLATIVE BODY CASTS THE DECIDING VOTE for an office filled by a │ │ single county or civil district — or may instead "by resolution call for a run-off │ │ election between the tied candidates." For a U.S. House seat the governor casts │ │ the vote; for a U.S. Senate seat the election is void and the governor calls a │ │ special election; for governor the General Assembly votes in joint convention. │ │ Tenn. Code § 2-8-111 │ │ │ └─ WV .. THE INVESTIGATIVE POWER, which is rarer than the tiebreak. A West Virginia board │ of canvassers may require the commissioners, poll clerks "or any of them" to │ testify, and may issue orders to obtain correct returns; it opens each sealed │ package, counts the ballots without unfolding them, and reseals them. │ W. Va. Code § 3-6-9(a)(2), (6)–(7) │ └─◆ G. THE REVIEW ROUTE — who may complain about a clerical act │ ├─ NM .. THE WIDEST ROUTE FOUND, and it is a statute rather than a doctrine: ANY VOTER may │ petition the district court for a writ of mandamus to compel the county canvassing │ board to approve the report and certify the returns. NMSA § 1-13-12 │ ├─ MI .. THE NARROWEST FOUND, for one office. Quo warranto is the attorney general's │ action; a private person may bring it only after giving the attorney general the │ facts, being refused, and obtaining leave of court — and "A private person shall │ not bring an action for quo warranto" concerning "the offices of electors of │ President and Vice President of the United States" at all. MCL 600.4501(1)–(2) │ └─ ✕ For presidential electors, therefore, the only possible plaintiff in Michigan │ is the attorney general. │ ├─ MI .. AND THE CERTIFICATE IS FINAL ONCE SIGNED, "subject only to (a) a post-certification │ recount ... or (b) a post-certification court order." Mich. Const. art. II, § 7(5) │ ├─ OH .. ⊘ NO EXTERNAL ROUTE IS NAMED for a board deadlock. The statute sends the question │ to the secretary of state and declares the answer final. R.C. 3501.11(X) │ └─ FL .. A TYPOGRAPHICAL CORRECTION HAS ITS OWN CLOCK, and only a board member may start it: if a county canvassing board member finds a typographical error within five days of the state certification and the error could change an outcome, the county certifies corrected returns within 24 hours and the commission recertifies as soon as practicable. Fla. Stat. § 102.111 ``` ## Notes - **Scope.** Fourteen states were read at the statute or constitution for this page: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Thirty-six were not drawn. The fourteen were chosen to cover every design family found, not to describe the country; a state not listed may well hold a design nobody has written down. - **The Michigan constitutional language.** Article II, § 7 was adopted with the 1963 constitution and amended by an initiated law approved on 8 November 2022, effective 24 December 2022. The section's history note does not itemise which subsections changed, so this page cites the section as it now reads rather than attributing particular clauses to the amendment. - **Why "seven answers" and not nine.** Ohio's two-and-two and New York's parity requirement are the same rule arrived at by different routes — Ohio's four members are appointed by a statewide partisan officeholder, New York's are recommended by the parties themselves. Florida and Georgia both come out at no binding party rule. The remaining five are each distinct. The count is derived here by comparison; no authority publishes it. - **New York City is an exception inside its own state.** Election Law § 3-200 gives the city a ten-commissioner board appointed by the city council, and the sentence establishing major-party parity sits in the county provision rather than the city one. - **Georgia cannot be described from the general code alone.** Section 21-2-40.1 is a default that applies only where no local Act is in effect; where one is, § 21-2-40 controls and the county's own Act governs the board's size, appointing authority and terms. Any statewide statement about Georgia's county election boards is therefore a statement about a stack of individual bills. - **Two questions deliberately left open.** Colorado's § 1-10-101 addresses replacing an appointee who cannot serve, but not a major party that never makes an initial appointment at all; whether that leaves the seat empty is not answered in the section. Arizona's § 16-648 requires the governor and attorney general to be present for the canvass of offices, and the governor and chief justice for amendments and measures, but does not say what happens if one of them does not attend. Neither question is answered on this page. - **The 2000 Florida recount ran through the body in B3.** The county canvassing board — a judge, the supervisor of elections, and the chair of the county commission — was the entity whose decisions the litigation was about. See [[Bush v. Gore]]. The composition has not changed since. - **Officeholders are not named here, on purpose.** Composition is stable and membership is not, so this page maps seats and appointing routes rather than the people currently in them. The structural facts were read at primary text in November 2026. - **Not on this page.** The recount, the audit and the judicial contest each have their own map, and each begins where this one ends. Municipal and ward-level canvassing boards, which do substantial work in Wisconsin and in the New England town systems, are also outside the frame. ## See also - [[State Election Administration Tree]] — the layer this board sits inside - [[How a Midterm Election Is Certified]] — the whole sequence from precinct count to seated member - [[State Canvass Deadline Crosswalk]] — when the canvass has to be finished - [[How Election Results Are Transmitted and Reported]] — what reaches the board, and in what form - [[How a Tie Vote Is Broken]] — the discretion in Part F, worked out across the states - [[Determination by Lot]] — the drawing of lots Michigan's constitution prescribes for a tie - [[Post-Election Audit Crosswalk]] — the check that runs beside the canvass - [[Recount Trigger Crosswalk]] and [[State Recount Waiver Crosswalk]] — the first instrument after certification, and who can switch it off - [[Election Contest Standing Crosswalk]] and [[State Election Contest Crosswalk]] — who may sue over a certified result, and where that case is heard - [[How a Conceded Election Is Finalized]] — why a concession does not end the canvass - [[How a Provisional Ballot Is Cast and Counted]] — the ballots the board rules on last - [[How a Contested House Seat Is Decided]] — the one forum a state canvassing board cannot reach - [[Writ of Mandamus]] and [[Quo Warranto]] — the two writs in Part G - [[Election Canvass]] — the term itself - [[Michigan Board of State Canvassers]] · [[Wisconsin Elections Commission]] · [[Georgia State Election Board]] — three of the state bodies above - [[Foundations Hub]] · [[2026 Midterms Hub]]