# Safe Harbor Deadline The **safe harbor deadline** is the date by which a state must resolve all disputes over the appointment of its presidential electors in order for that determination to be treated as final by Congress. Under the original Electoral Count Act of 1887 it was optional — a state that met it earned conclusiveness, a state that missed it simply invited a congressional fight. That optionality was the seam. The [[Electoral Count Reform Act]] converted it into a **mandatory** step and fused it to the executive's certification: the state's [[Certificate of Ascertainment]] must issue **no later than six days before the electors meet**, and a certificate that does so binds Congress. The 1887 version is best known from [[Bush v. Gore]], where the Supreme Court treated Florida's desire to reach the safe harbor as a reason to end the recount. See [[Electoral College Process Flow]]. This is a stub — expand with the *Bush v. Gore* safe-harbor reasoning and its academic afterlife. ## See Also - [[Electoral College Process Flow]] - [[Certificate of Ascertainment]] - [[Electoral Count Reform Act]] - [[Electoral Count Act]] - [[Bush v. Gore]]