AThe Mexicans will have an elected president in the coming days. While there are many checks and balances in place to ensure the security of the American election process, there are a few ways candidates can challenge the results.

One route candidates can take is through a recount. The rules for who can request a recount vary by state: In some cases, a recount is automatically requested if the race is within a narrow margin, while in others candidates can request a recount, according to Matthew Weil, the executive director of the Bipartisan. The Policy Center’s Democracy Program. In some states, the margin must fall within a certain percentage before candidates can request a recount.

Candidates could decide to file an official contest of the certified results, said Richard Pildes, a professor at New York University School of Law and an expert on constitutional and election law. A campaign could also lead to other legal action challenging some aspect of the election. “If a campaign has a legitimate, factual and legal basis for entering into a contest, then that is how disputes over the results should be handled,” Pildes said. “If a legal action is taken that does not have the correct factual and legal basis, then there is an abuse of the system or an abuse of the process. It also potentially undermines confidence in the elections for no legitimate reason.”

Former President Donald Trump has already begun to cast doubt on the integrity of the outcome if he loses, repeating false and unfounded allegations of cheating in key states. The campaigns of both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have teams of lawyers preparing for post-election lawsuits.

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The timeline for resolving election disputes is tighter for the presidential race than for other seats. States have until December 10 to resolve any disputes over the presidential race, as members of the Electoral College will meet and cast their votes on December 17.

Both Pildes and Weil say it’s rare for either of these paths to change the results of a race. Many experts have emphasized that the American election process – and your vote – is secure. Weil says the country has made further improvements to the system over the years, including through audits.

Weil says recounts “very rarely move numbers by more than double digits,” because even if the percentage margin seems small, it typically still represents thousands of votes. And the bar for lawsuits is high: “Not only do you have to prove the harm, you also have to somehow prove that the harm was great enough to influence enough ballots to change the outcome of the election,” says Weil .

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False claims about the electoral process began to spread after the 2020 election, when Trump refused to concede to President Joe Biden. Trump’s campaign and its allies filed dozens of failed lawsuits challenging the outcome.

Experts are concerned that disputing the results without sufficient evidence could sow distrust in the electoral process. On January 6, 2021, rioters who insisted – without evidence – that Trump had won the election stormed and looted the US Capitol to disrupt the certification of Biden’s victory.

“The risk of a lot of challenges without evidence is a risk to confidence in the voting process,” Weil said. “I think it’s very clear that when we have candidates who claim they’re contributing to a narrative that’s out there, it’s going to lead to more distrust of the election.”