- The Republican Sens. Mitt Romney, Pat Toomey and Lisa Murkowski said they would oppose the attempt of their colleagues to contest the election results.
- Senator Ted Cruz is among a group of GOP senators who have said they will oppose the certification of votes at Electoral College on Wednesday during a joint session of Congress that is usually procedural.
- The attempt may delay the certification of the results, but it will not change the result of the vote in any US state.
- Romney said in a statement on Saturday that the effort “could improve the political ambition of some, but threaten our Democratic Republic.”
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Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah and other Republican senators said Saturday they will oppose their colleagues’ attempt to contest the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Earlier in the day, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz announced that he would object to the certification of votes for the Electoral College, and a number of GOP senators are expected to join him.
“The serious ploy to reject voters may strengthen the political ambition of some, but threaten our Democratic Republic dangerously,” Romney said in a statement.
Elected President Joe Biden won the election by receiving 306 votes compared to President Donald Trump’s 232. The results were validated in each state and presidential voters cast their ballots last month.
The election’s votes will be certified on Wednesday during a convention that is usually procedural, confirming the winner that voters and the Electoral College have already chosen.
Cruz’s attempt to object may delay the certification of the results, but it will not change the election results in any US state.
Romney vehemently rejected the effort, emphasizing the will of the voters.
“Should Congress actually reject state voters, partisans would inevitably claim the same when they lost candidate,” Romney said. “Congress, not voters in the various states, elects our presidents.”
Republicans planning to file a complaint are reportedly calling for a 10-day emergency audit of election results in some states, though Romney also noted that the Trump campaign has lost all of its election cases and that the Department of Justice found no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would not change the outcome.
He also directly criticized Trump for appeal to his supporters to show up in DC the day the vote is certified, saying it could lead to “disruption, and worse.”
“I would never have thought I would see these things in the greatest democracy in the world,” Romney said. “Does ambition have such an obscure principle?”
Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey and Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski also said they would oppose the effort.
“A fundamental, defining characteristic of a democratic republic is the right of the people to elect their own leaders,” Toomey said in a series of tweets on Saturday.
He said the attempt by Cruz and others to reverse the election results “directly undermines this right.”
Toomey said the senators justified their objection by quoting allegations of fraud, but that “allegations of fraud by a losing campaign could not justify an election.” He also said judges in the US had ruled that the allegations of fraud were not supported by evidence.
He said he had voted for Trump, but that he intended to “strongly defend our form of government by resisting this attempt to deny millions of voters in my state and others.”
Murkowski also said in a statement On Saturday, she will vote to confirm the outcome of the election college, urging senators from both parties to do the same.
“The courts and state legislators have all complied with their duty to hear legitimate allegations and have found nothing to reverse the results,” she said.
Republicans who are reportedly planning to object to the certification of the results include Cruz, Sens Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Steve Daines of Montana, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Mike Braun of Indiana and Sens. -choose Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri also said Wednesday that he intends to object.
In an email to GOP senators Saturday night, Hawley called the recent comments ‘shameless personal attacks’, Politico reported. Toomey specifically mentioned Hawley in his comments on the undermining of democracy.
“We must avoid putting words in each other’s mouths and making unfounded allegations about the intentions of our fellow senators,” Hawley was quoted as saying by Politico. “I never claim to speak for another senator, but I do speak for my constituents when they raise legitimate concerns about issues that are just as important as the fairness of our election.”