What federal law requires is that if a state has completed its post-election certification by Dec. 8, Congress is required to accept those results, said Rebecca Green, an election law professor at the William & Mary law school in Williamsburg, Virginia.
But Congress also set another deadline, six days before electors meet, to insulate state results from being challenged in Congress.
Judge Stephen Simanek, appointed to hear the case, has acknowledged that the case would push the state outside the electoral vote safe harbor.
Already one member of the House of Representatives, Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., has said he will challenge electoral votes for Biden on Jan. 6.
When Florida’s electoral votes, decisive in George W. Bush’s victory, reached Congress, several Black House members protested, but no senators joined in.