The presidential election was on November 3; most news organizations declared Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as winners a few days later; the states certified their results until December 8; and the Electoral College met on December 14. But there is still a bit of electoral business to be closed until January 20, when Biden and Harris will take office as the next president and vice president of the United States.
On January 6, Congress will meet in a joint session to formally count the votes of the Electoral College presented by the states. Electoral votes are transported to the chamber in ornate boxes, members of Congress examine them, and then the acting vice president, acting as president of the Senate, declares the winners. In that case, it will be Vice President Mike Pence declaring victory for his opponents. It will be a hard pill to swallow, but other vice presidents have done so in the past, including Richard Nixon in 1961 and Al Gore in 2001.
States have already counted their voters’ votes. Biden won with a total of 306 electoral votes, compared to 232 for President Trump (270 Electoral College votes are needed to win). Biden also won the popular vote by more than 7 million votes.
But since November 3, Trump has refused to concede Biden’s defeat. The president continues to falsely claim that he actually won the election, alleging widespread electoral fraud. Trump’s most fervent supporters are clinging to what is almost certainly a fantasy of overturning the election results in Congress. The Electoral Counting Act of 1887 requires that the vice president preside over the validation of the Electoral College’s votes in a largely ceremonial capacity and affirm the winner of the presidential election.
Congressman Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, and a group of Arizona Republicans filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court on Sunday against Pence, arguing that the 1887 law is unconstitutional and that he should be legally allowed to choose pro-voters. Trump on January 6. “Vice President Pence, as President of the Senate and President of the Joint Session of Congress of January 6, 2021 under the Twelfth Amendment, is subject exclusively to the requirements of the Twelfth Amendment and may exercise the exclusive authority and exclusive criterion to determine which electoral votes to count for a given State ”, maintains the action.
Trump’s GOP allies could also take another path. If at least one deputy and a senator object to the results, the objection is put to a vote after two hours of debate.
A handful of Republicans in the House – including Representative Jody Hice of Georgia, who was re-elected – said they would object to the election results in Georgia, one of the states in which Trump alleges election irregularities.
On the Senate side, it is less certain. Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama suggested, but did not confirm, that he could also object.
The effort to launch the election for Trump would need to pass a majority in both chambers. Even if the vote falls on the party’s lines, it will be defeated by the Democratic majority in the House. Several Senate Republicans oppose it, including majority leader Mitch McConnell (who provoked Trump’s ire as a result). Therefore, it is difficult to imagine a situation in which an objection to the votes of a single state would go anywhere – let alone the various states that would be needed to alter the results of the elections.
So hold on tight. Even though our calendars may change on January 1st – 2020 is not over yet until the vice president speaks.
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