A group of GOP senators led by Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, will next week object to the January 6 certification of the presidential election results, unless a ten-day state of emergency is declared by the election commission.
Cruz and the other senators allege that the Nov. 3 election “contains unprecedented allegations of voter fraud and misconduct.”
Along with Cruz is Sens Ron Johnson, R-Wis .; James Lankford, R-Okla .; Steve Daines, R-Mont .; John Kennedy, R-La .; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., And Mike Braun, R-Ind .; as well as Sens-chosen Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo .; Roger Marshall, R-Kansas; Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., And Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.
Their attempt is separate from one announced by Senator Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Who said this week that he would object to what he said was the failure of some states – particularly Pennsylvania – to follow their own election laws.
HAWLEY S HE he will be subject to the certification of the electrical colleges in January. 6
“The fraud of voters has posed a continuing challenge in our election, although its scope and scope are disputed,” lawmakers said in a statement Saturday. “The allegations of fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election surpass any by any means in our lives.”
To date, no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could change the outcome of the election has been presented. Dozens of legal challenges filed by the Trump campaign and its supporters have been dismissed by judges across the country.
A source familiar with the efforts of GOP senators told Fox News that it was Cruz who organized the push just days before the joint session of Congress Wednesday to officially approve the votes of the Electoral College to elect former Vice President Joe Biden.
According to lawmakers, there is a precedent set by Democrats for objecting to election results in 1969, 2001, 2005 and 2019. “And in 1969 and 2005, a Democratic senator along with a member of the Democratic House agreed to vote in both houses to enforce or he must accept the presidential election is being challenged, ‘they said.
The elected senators and senators request that Congress appoint a commission to conduct a 10-day emergency audit of the election records in countries where the results are disputed. They cite as a precedent the 1877 race between Samuel Tilden and Rutherford Hayes in which allegations of fraud existed in several states.
“In 1877, Congress did not ignore the allegations, nor did the media dismiss those who raise them as radicals trying to undermine democracy,” lawmakers said in the statement. “Instead, Congress has appointed an electoral commission – consisting of five senators, five members of the House and five judges of the Supreme Court – to consider and resolve the controversial returns.”
“We must follow the precedent. To know, Congress must immediately appoint an Electoral Commission with full investigative and factual authority to conduct an emergency test ten days after the election returns in the disputed states. Once completed, individual states would evaluate the findings of the Commission and may convene a special legislative session to confirm a change in their vote, if necessary. “
If that does not happen, the senators intend to vote against the certification.
“Consequently, we intend to vote on 6 January to expel the voters from disputed states because they were not ‘regularly given’ and ‘legally certified’ (the legal requirement), unless and until the ten-day state of emergency is completed. , “they said in the state.
It is unclear whether they will rally more Republicans to their cause, given Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s public acceptance of Biden’s victory. While lawmakers note that most Democrats and some Republicans will vote to confirm the results, they argue that an audit will increase public confidence in the process.
“These are matters worthy of Congress and entrusted to us to defend. We are not taking this action lightly. We are not acting to stop the democratic process, but rather to protect it,” they said. . “And each of us must act together to ensure that the election is conducted legally under the Constitution and to do everything in our power to restore faith in our Democracy.”
The senators’ efforts are a major victory for President Trump’s continued efforts to challenge the outcome of the election. Trump has repeatedly claimed that he defeated Biden, who overthrew a number of states, including Georgia and Arizona, to overcome the 270 votes of the Electoral College needed to secure the White House.
Trump’s campaign has launched a number of legal challenges, while Trump himself has urged states with Republican governors and lawmakers to overthrow Biden’s victories – as he claims without evidence that widespread voter fraud has tipped the scales.
Senate GOP leaders are opposed to attempts to challenge Biden’s victory, and McConnell urges Republicans behind closed doors not to contest the election results.
But if the group of GOP senators objects, along with a similar effort by Republicans from the House, the joint session of Congress will be dissolved, and the House and Senate will then meet separately to discuss the electoral votes of the disputed able to debate.
Thereafter, each body will vote on whether to accept or reject any disputed votes. Then the House and the Senate will reconvene the joint sitting.
In the House, at least ten incoming first-year students of the House Society are expected to support a move by Representative Mo Brooks, R-Ala, to object to certification.
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The last time this happened (and only the second time in American history), was in January 2005, after Pres. George W. Bush’s victory over Democratic challenger John Kerry of Massachusetts. One Senate Democrat – Barbara Boxer of California – and one House Democrat – Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio – objected. In 2017, a handful of House Democrats objected to Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton, but no Senate Democrats joined them.
A state’s electoral vote will only be cast if both the House and Senate vote for it – something that is unlikely given the Democratic majority in the House, and the pressure of GOP Senate leaders to declare.
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser, Jason Donner, Marisa Schultz and Tyler Olson contributed to this report.