San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
LAWMAKERS TO REJECT ELECTORS
11 senators, senators-elect call for commission to audit returns in 6 disputed states
Nearly a dozen Republican senators and senatorselect led by Ted Cruz of Texas said Saturday they will reject electors from certain states won by President-elect Joe Biden, citing unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud and calling for an emergency 10-day audit of the results, an unprecedented attempt to thwart the democratic process.
The senators contend they are not trying to reverse the election results, but rather give voice to those who don’t believe it was conducted fairly, despite no investigation nor court finding any evidence of wrongdoing.
Still, President Donald Trump and many of his Republican allies see this week’s joint session of Congress to certify Biden’s victory as their last stand to contest the election results, even if doing so is largely political theater to undermine and delay Biden’s win.
“To wit, 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,” the senators wrote in a joint statement. “Once completed, individual states would evaluate the Commission’s findings and could convene a special legislative session to certify a change in their vote, if needed.”
Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin; James Lankford of Oklahoma; Steve Daines of Montana; John Neely Kennedy of Louisiana; Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Mike Braun of Indiana — along with Sens.elect Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming; Roger Marshall of Kansas; Bill Hagerty of Tennessee; and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama — joined Cruz. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-MO., has already said he will contest the Electoral College vote certification.
By law, if members from both the House and the Senate object to the Electoral College slates, both chambers must debate and then vote on the contest. The Republicans’ plans to muddy up the proceedings could force Wednesday’s ceremony to go all night and into the next morning.
For each successfully contested state, the joint session must recess, allowing the House and Senate to individually debate up to two hours and then vote on the challenges. Because of coronavirus precautions, House votes during the pandemic have taken an hour or more to conduct — meaning disposing of challenges for each state could take three to four hours.
Many House Republicans have already said they will contest the Electoral College votes from multiple states. If Republican senators join House members in contesting all six won by Biden where the Trump campaign has questioned the results — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — the proceedings could conceivably last 24 hours or more.
Ultimately though, the GOP challenge is expected to fail because Democrats hold more seats in the House and a number of Senate Republicans have already recognized Biden’s win and are unlikely to support their colleagues’ effort.
Democrats in both chambers are preparing to defend the election results during the debate period for each state.
The Trump campaign has brought dozens of cases alleging voter fraud in six states, and judges have rejected nearly every claim. The U.S. Supreme Court has also twice refused to take up the cases.