On January 6, the U.S. Congress will hold a joint session to count and certify the results of each state’s Electoral College vote. Both the House and Senate currently have a number of Republican lawmakers who have made it clear that they will challenge the electoral votes in the session. Senator Ted Cruz, the leader of the challenge, said on Sunday, January 3, that Congress should be accountable to the voters and the Constitution and has a responsibility to protect the integrity of the democratic system.
On January 2, 11 Republican U.S. senators, led by Ted Cruz, announced they would challenge the electoral vote, and on January 3, Cruz told Fox Business News that Congress has a responsibility to address election issues and protect the integrity of the democratic system. He said the challenge to the electoral vote is intended to “urge Congress to establish an emergency election commission to urgently review election results and evaluate allegations of fraud …….”
In particular, Cruz said the Trump team is calling on courts and state legislatures to overturn election results in key states because many Americans do not believe the results of the Nov. 3 election are credible. “We are now 10 days away from the presidential inauguration …… We owe it to the voters, we owe it to the Constitution to make sure this election is legitimate.”
But some Democrats have branded the electoral vote challenge as “treason” and want Cruz arrested. Cruz responded to this in an interview on Jan. 3. He said, “Yesterday, when I made the statement with 10 other senators, there were a lot of Democrats who said I should be arrested and tried for sedition and treason.”
“Look, I think everybody needs to calm down. I think we should tone it down a little bit,” Cruz said, adding, “This has been a volatile situation. It’s like a powder keg that you throw a lit match into.”
He also said he hopes the federal Supreme Court, which twice declined to hear the case, will agree to hear the election fraud case. “The Supreme Court had two opportunities to hear fraud cases, one in Pennsylvania and one in Texas against four swing states. The Supreme Court is a much better place to resolve these disputes, but they didn’t take up either case.”
Cruz said that while challenging the election results is not the ideal move for Congress, in his opinion it is better than accepting an election result that a large number of voters are questioning.
He believes that ignoring the massive allegations of fraud is the real attack on American democracy. “We should have a serious, impartial process and court to consider these claims, to consider them quickly. We can do that within 10 days of (the president’s) inauguration.”
Cruz also referred to a poll released Nov. 18 by Reuters and the Ipsos agency (IPSOS) that showed 39 percent of Americans believe the election was rigged. By party affiliation, 68 percent of Republicans, 16 percent of Democrats and 31 percent of independents believe the election was rigged.
As a result, Cruz emphasized the importance of rebuilding the American voter’s trust in the American democratic process. I believe that should be a bipartisan goal,” he said. We may be too divided to do that today, but Democrats should be focused on giving Americans confidence in our electoral system, just as Republicans should be doing.”
On Sunday, 10 bipartisan members of the Senate voiced their opposition to actions by Cruz and others to challenge the election results. The senators included Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Republican Whip John Thune (R-Tenn.), Senate Rules and Regulations Committee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-Mich.) and notoriously “anti-Trump” Republican lawmaker Mitt Romney (R-Tenn.). Romney (R-Texas) and others.
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