Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the upcoming election voting certification “the most consistent vote” in a call for senators this week, according to Sen. Mitt Romney, who was in the call. Congress will meet on January 6 to count the electoral votes of each state and reaffirm the victory of President-elect Joe Biden.
The count offers Republican lawmakers who have not yet recognized the victory of President-elect Joe Biden one last attempt to overturn the results of the presidential election. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri announced Wednesday that he intends to oppose certification.
Asked for his interpretation of McConnell’s comments, Romney told reporters Friday: “I see it as a statement that he believes is a referendum on our democracy.”
The joint session of Congress is required by law to ratify presidential results, but it also allows “members to oppose the statements of any individual state as they are announced,” according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). . Lawmakers can oppose the results, even if it’s not their state of origin, leaving the door open for representatives who support Trump’s unproven claims of widespread election fraud to disrupt the typically ceremonial process.
Hawley is the only Republican senator who has pledged to challenge election votes, although several Conservative members of the House have pledged to do so. President Trump has suggested that Congress should intervene, with a long hope that he will be handed a second term after previous efforts to challenge the election results have failed.
The Missouri Republican said in a statement that he “cannot vote to certify the results of the election university on Jan. 6 without raising the fact that some states, particularly Pennsylvania, did not follow their own state election laws.” He added that “he cannot vote to certify without noting the unprecedented effort of mega corporations, including Facebook and Twitter, to interfere in this election, in support of Joe Biden.”
“At the very least, Congress should investigate allegations of election fraud and take steps to ensure the integrity of our election. But so far Congress has not acted,” Hawley said.
Both a member of the House and the Senate must sign the objections. If this is achieved, the two chambers separate to debate and vote to accept or reject the objection. The House, however, is controlled by Democrats, albeit by a thinner margin, so even if the Republican-controlled Senate rejects a state, there is probably no possibility.
McConnell asked Republican senators last month not to oppose it when the joint session is convened. Other Republican senators, including those close to Mr. Trump, have suggested that the move would be unsuccessful.
While Hawley’s effort is unlikely to be successful, Romney considered it “dangerous to democracy here and abroad,” as it “continues to spread the false rumor that the election was somehow stolen.”
“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, do you know what you are “I really won,” but I didn’t, I clearly lost. Of course, there have always been irregularities, but spreading such rumors that our electoral system is not working is dangerous for democracy here and abroad. “