What is the safe harbor deadline?

The "safe harbor deadline," a routine part of every presidential election, usually passes unnoticed by the general public. But, this being 2020, the safe harbor deadline might come to your attention and need some explanation. Recall that each state must certify its presidential vote totals in order to seat its members of the Electoral College. If a state completes this certification by the deadline defined in the Electoral Count Act of 1877, Congress accepts the result without question. If a contested election result prevents a state from certifying its totals by this deadline, Congress may choose to settle the dispute itself, or simply not count any Electoral College votes from that state. States want to avoid either of those scenarios, so expect them all to resolve any disputes and conclude their counts by December 8th, this year's safe harbor deadline.

Check out this video from ABC News to learn more about the history behind the safe harbor deadline.