It must do so. The certification process is a ministerial one. Board members are required to sign off, provided they have received the final canvass from each of Michigan’s 83 counties — and they have.

A refusal by the board to certify the results now would risk disenfranchising the state’s voters — an unconscionable outcome antithetical to American democracy.

It also means the board would likely not be able to certify any other races on the Nov. 3 ballot, a decision that would throw the state into turmoil and anger victorious Republican and Democratic candidates alike.

No doubt the two Republican members of the state board are under enormous pressure to delay certifying the election results, or even to vote against certification. But their duty is clear, and tearing apart the norms of our democracy by disenfranchising their fellow Michiganders cannot be part of that duty.