Several senators, led by Senator Ted Cruz, say they will reject the results of the Electoral College, unless a commission is appointed to conduct a 10-day audit of the results. Congress is set to matter The Electoral College votes on January 6.
“We intend to vote on January 6 to reject voters in the disputed states as not being ‘regularly’ and ‘legally certified’ (the legal requirement), unless and until the 10-day emergency audit is completed,” he said. the group in a statement on Saturday.
Cruz’s group works separately from the Republican senator Josh Hawley in his effort to challenge the results of the Electoral College when Congress meets on Wednesday. Dozens of House Republicans are also expected to contest the victory of President-elect Joe Biden, even though the Electoral College cast its 306th vote in December.
These last-minute challenges will not change the outcome of the election, and Mr Biden is set to be inaugurated on 20 January. The list of Republican lawmakers contesting the results includes some of the party’s biggest rising stars, and those efforts are an attempt to favor President Trump and his base.
Cruz works with Senators Ron Johnson, James Lankford, Steve Daines, John Kennedy, Marsha Blackburn and Mike Braun and with elected senators Cynthia Lummis, Roger Marshall, Bill Hagerty and Tommy Tuberville. Only one of these senators, Johnson of Wisconsin, is a state won by Mr. Biden.
In their statement, the senators claim that they are trying to restore faith in the democratic process, due to the allegations of voter fraud. Mr. Trump’s legal team has repeatedly failed to provide evidence of election fraud in several lawsuits challenging the election results.
The statement cites the 1876 election, when Congress appointed an Electoral Commission in early 1877 to consider and resolve disputed electoral returns.
“Congress should immediately appoint an Electoral Commission, with full authority to investigate and investigate the facts, to conduct a 10-day emergency audit of electoral statements in disputed states. Upon completion, individual states will evaluate the Commission’s findings and may convene a legislative session to certify a change in their vote, if necessary, “the statement said.
joint session of the Congress it is required by law to ratify presidential results, but also allows “members to object to returns from any individual state as they are announced,” according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
Hawley has so far been the only Republican senator to pledge to contest election votes in a last minute effort to give Mr. Trump a second term after previous efforts to challenge the failed election results, including the loss of several lawsuits filed by the campaign.
“At the very least, Congress should investigate allegations of voter fraud and take steps to ensure the integrity of our election. But Congress has so far failed to act,” Hawley said last week.
However, some Republicans believe Hawley’s effort is hurting Democratic institutions and accuse him of plotting to gain the support of Trump’s voters ahead of a potential 2024 presidential bid.
In a crushing tweet Last week, Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger said Hawley’s “internal monologue” at the time of his statement was, “I want to be president, so I decided to try to get a POTUS tweet saying I’m great, even though I know that this is not going anywhere, but hey … I will blame someone else for failing. “
Republican Sen. Ben Sasse posted a lengthy Facebook post on Wednesday saying anyone who wants to contest election results is “playing with fire.”
“Let’s be clear about what’s going on here: we have a bunch of ambitious politicians who think there’s a quick way to get into the president’s populist base without doing any real long-term damage. But they are wrong – and this problem is bigger than anyone’s personal ambitions. Adults are not pointing a loaded gun at the heart of legitimate governance, “Sasse said.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the next election vote certification “the most consistent vote” in an appeal to senators this week, according to Senator Mitt Romney, who was on appeal. Romney told reporters on Friday that he interpreted McConnell’s comments that the vote was a “referendum on our democracy.”
“Look, I lost in 2012, I know what it’s like to lose,” said Romney, who ran for president in 2012. “And there were people who said there were irregularities. Today I have people who say ‘hey, you know what you have.’ we have really won – but we have not, we have lost correctly and clearly, of course, there have always been irregularities, but spreading this kind of rumor that our electoral system is not working is dangerous for democracy here and abroad.
In their statement, the senators acknowledged that they “fully expect, if not all Democrats, and perhaps more than a few Republicans, to vote differently” and to accept the election results.
“A fair and credible audit, conducted quickly and completed well before January 20, would dramatically improve Americans’ faith in our electoral process and significantly enhance the legitimacy of whoever becomes our next president. We owe this to the people,” the statement said. . . “We are acting not to impede the democratic process, but rather to protect it. And each of us should act together to ensure that the elections were held legally in accordance with the Constitution and to do everything we can to restore faith in our democracy “.