Here’s a useful analogy for understanding election certification.
Consider the process through which drivers’ licenses are issued. After you successfully complete your practical driving test under the observation of a DMV staffer, they give you a slip declaring that you’ve passed. The DMV staffer in the car with you represents the role of those election workers who count each ballot and audit the findings for accuracy.
You’ll take that slip with the test results to a different DMV employee. This staffer is responsible for collecting your identifying information, taking your photograph, and ultimately issuing your license. This is much like the role of our election certifiers – to issue a certificate to the winner of the election.
At this phase, you’ve already been tested and demonstrated to be a competent driver. The second staffer has no authority to second-guess the person who administered your road test – saying “I don’t know, I don’t think you seem like someone who can drive” or “I don’t trust that process so I don’t think I want to give you a license.” They can’t direct you back into your car to prove your competence again.
Similarly – election certifiers do not have the discretion to question or overrule the election results after they have been counted, canvassed, audited and confirmed by our election workers.