certify

Any voter or campaign can request a recount within five days of the election being certified, but must foot the costs, which could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for a Congressional race.

To ensure all the votes are counted, the state gives counties 30 days to finalize their tallies, and on Dec. 13 the secretary of state will certify the results.

The next step in the sequel comes when Congress certifies Trump’s win.

However, these statements were clearly an allusion to the former president’s refusal to accept the 2020 election outcome and the ensuing insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress worked to certify the electoral college vote.

That these electors would lack legal standing — Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, is the only person who can legally certify the commonwealth's electors — may not be an obstacle in an increasingly politicized judiciary.