According to Senator Mitt Romney, who was on the call, Mitch McConnell, the leader of the majority of the Senate, Mitch McConnell called the upcoming certification of the election ‘the most important vote’. Congress will convene on January 6 to count the electoral votes of each state and the election of Pres. To confirm Joe Biden’s victory.
The version offers Republican lawmakers who have yet to recognize President Joe Biden’s election a last-ditch effort to reverse the outcome of the presidential election. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri announced Wednesday that he intends to object to the certification.
Commenting on McConnell’s comments, Romney told reporters on Friday: “I see this as a statement that he believes it’s a – it’s a referendum on our democracy. ‘
The law requires the joint sitting of Congress to ratify presidential results, but it also allows ‘members to object to the proceeds of any individual state as announced’, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Lawmakers may object to the results – even if it is not their home state – leaving the door open for representatives who support Trump’s unproven allegations of widespread electoral fraud to disrupt the typical ceremonial process.
Hawley is the only Republican senator who has committed to challenging the election, although several Conservative members of the House have promised to do so. President Trump has suggested that Congress should intervene, in the distant hope that they will give him a second term after previous attempts to challenge the election results have failed.
The Missouri Republican said in a statement that he “cannot vote on January 6 to confirm the results of the Electoral College without confirming the fact that some states, particularly Pennsylvania, have not complied with their own state election laws. . ” He added that he “can not vote to certify without pointing to 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 voter fraud and take measures to ensure the integrity of our election. But Congress has so far been unable to act,” Hawley said.
Objections must be signed by a member of the House and the Senate. When this is achieved, the two houses separate from each other to debate and vote to accept or reject the objection. However, the House is controlled by Democrats, although with a slimmer margin, even if the GOP-controlled Senate were to reject a state, there is essentially no chance that the House would do so.
McConnell asked Republican senators last month not to object when the joint session convenes. Other GOP senators, including those close to Mr. Trump is, suggested that such a move would be fruitless.
Although Hawley’s attempt is unlikely to succeed, Romney called it ‘dangerous to democracy here and abroad’ because it ‘still spreads the false rumor that the election was stolen in some way’.
“Look, I lost in 2012, I know what it’s like to lose,” said Romney, who was elected president in 2012. ‘And there were people who said there were irregularities. I have people today who say ‘hey you know what you really won’ – but I did not, I just lost. Of course, there have always been irregularities, but spreading this kind of rumor about our electoral system is not dangerous for democracy here and abroad. “