What to know about Tuesday's 'safe harbor' deadline to certify election results

Tuesday marks the "safe harbor" date -- a provision inscribed in federal law that requires states to resolve all election-related disputes before the Electoral College meets in order for the results to be considered "conclusive."

The safe harbor date always falls six days before the Electoral College gathers to cast votes for president and vice president. With the Electoral College meeting set for Dec. 14 this year, that puts the safe harbor date on Dec. 8.

The deadline for states to certify their election results essentially insulates states from legal challenges down the road when Congress counts the electoral votes in early January (and members of the House and Senate are able to contest a slate of electors). Those electors certified by the safe harbor date are considered binding -- making them extremely difficult to dispute in the courts.

"If election results are contested in any state, and if the state, prior to election day, has enacted procedures to settle controversies or contests over electors and electoral votes, and if these procedures have been applied, and the results have been determined six days before the electors’ meetings, then these results are considered to be conclusive, and will apply in the counting of the electoral votes," a report on the Electoral College from the Congressional Research Service reads. "This date, known as the 'Safe Harbor' deadline, falls on December 8 in 2020."

Don’t expect much fanfare on Tuesday. The date is marked by little beyond remaining states submitting "Certificates of Ascertainment" to the National Archives -- a formal document certifying their state’s electors for either Donald Trump or Joe Biden.

"The governor of any state where there was a contest, and in which the contest was decided according to established state procedures, is required (3 U.S.C. §6) to send a certificate describing the form and manner by which the determination was made to the Archivist as soon as practicable," the report continues.