These 12 GOP Senators Have Publicly Announced They Will Object Electoral College Vote Results On Jan. 6 And Demand An Immediate Audit
More Republican senators are publicly announcing that they will object to the January 6 vote to certify the Electoral College results formalizing the victory of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
A group of 11 senators also demanded over the weekend that Congress establish an electoral commission to conduct an emergency audit on the election results.
BREAKING: A coalition of GOP senators and senators-elect, led by Sen. Ted Cruz, will object to the Jan. 6 certification of the election results when a joint session of Congress meets next week unless there is an emergency 10-day audit of the results.https://t.co/qHReN242Ua
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 2, 2021
Incumbent GOP Senators Ted Cruz (Texas), Ron Johnson (Wisconsin), James Lankford (Oklahoma), Steve Daines (Montana), John Kennedy (Louisiana), Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee) and Mike Braun (Indiana) made the announcement to vote against the election results along with Senators-elect Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming), Roger Marshall (Kansas), Bill Hagerty (Tennessee) and Tommy Tuberville (Alabama).
Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri already earlier said he will join the effort of some GOP House Republicans in rejecting the result of the 2020 Electoral College vote when it is presented to Congress, becoming the first senator to officially make this announcement with just a week before the certification process.
Millions of voters concerned about election integrity deserve to be heard. I will object on January 6 on their behalf pic.twitter.com/kTaaPPJGHE
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) December 30, 2020
Demand for 10-day audit
The lawmakers noted that Congress should “immediately appoint” an Electoral Commission, with full investigatory and fact-finding authority, to conduct an emergency 10-day audit of the election returns in the disputed states.
Once completed, the 11 senators said in a joint statement that individual states would evaluate the Commission’s findings and could convene a special legislative session to certify a change in their vote, if needed.
“Accordingly, we intend to vote on Jan. 6 to reject the electors from disputed states as not ‘regularly given’ and ‘lawfully certified’ (the statutory requisite), unless and until that emergency 10-day audit is completed,” they said.
“Voter fraud has posed a persistent challenge in our elections, although its breadth and scope are disputed,” the GOP senators added, further saying that “by any measure, the allegations of fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election exceed any in our lifetimes.”
The Republican lawmakers said there is a precedent of Democrats objecting to election results in 1969, 2001, 2005 and 2019.
“These are matters worthy of the Congress, and entrusted to us to defend. We do not take this action lightly. We are acting not to thwart the democratic process, but rather to protect it,” they said, noting that the move is meant to ensure that the election was “lawfully conducted” under the Constitution.
Sen.Cruz, who, like Sen. Hawley is reportedly eyeing to be a White House contender in 2024, is said to have initiated the move from Senate Republicans despite Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s public acceptance of a Biden-Harris victory earlier amidst ongoing election lawsuits.
A ‘protest vote’ expected
Sen. Braun, who is among the senators pushing to challenge the election results, earlier said the effort is not expected to go anywhere in Congress, and would instead be a “protest vote.”
“In my opinion there’s zero chance that anything will come from it. The House is not going to overturn and I don’t think you’ll even get close in the Senate,” the senator from Indiana said, noting that it is expected that “most if not all Democrats, and perhaps more than a few Republicans,” would vote against the move.
Congress is set to hold a joint session on January 6 to certify the results of the Electoral College votes — officially declaring the winner of the November 3 elections.
Members of Congress will then be allowed to object to the results. A support from just a single GOP senator is needed by House Republicans to force Congress to hold debates and votes on the election results.
Both the House and Senate, however, would then vote on whether to uphold or dismiss the objection, which would require a majority in both chambers to move forward.
Some estimates said at least 140 House Republicans are expected to vote against the electoral votes.
Both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence earlier asked Republican lawmakers to both “step-up” their fight to defend the presidency and “stay in the fight” as the Trump campaign continues to pursue legal efforts to ensure that only legal votes are counted in the polls — with hopes to eventually turn around the election outcome.
“Time for Republican Senators to step up and fight for the Presidency, like the Democrats would do if they had actually won. The proof is irrefutable! Massive late night mail-in ballot drops in swing states, stuffing the ballot boxes (on video), double voters, dead voters,” President Trump said.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1342974373632876545
“….fake signatures, illegal immigrant voters, banned Republican vote watchers, MORE VOTES THAN ACTUAL VOTERS (check out Detroit & Philadelphia), and much more. The numbers are far greater than what is necessary to win the individual swing states, and cannot even be contested….”
