Us election: The process of confirming an alternative voter or turning the tables

There are real uncertainties in the Congressional electoral College counting process, including the chance for Vice President and Senate President Mike Pence to take the lead in the congressional electoral college counting, giving him a chance to exert influence. Supporters of the current president Donald Trump want to turn the tables on “alternate SLATE of Electors”.

Under the Election Counting Act, the electoral votes will be delivered to Mr. Pence in Washington in the next few weeks and then to the current Congress before the full House and Senate meet on Jan. 6 to confirm the president-elect. But whether the crowded plenary sessions of both houses of Parliament can continue in the face of the epidemic is uncertain.

At the same time, the 12th Amendment gives Pence greater power in the general Assembly of both houses, requiring him to publish all electoral certificates and count the votes in their presence. There are two variables, one is pence or simply do not show up and can not count; Second, even after the count is completed, congressional rules allow one senator and one representative to challenge the electoral college vote against Biden’s victory.

If the full Congress of both houses fails to confirm the electoral votes, it will be a stopgap election in which the Senate and the House of Representatives will vote for the vice president and the president respectively, giving Trump a chance to win.

Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to Trump, said there would be “alternative electors” in contested states who would vote for Trump to be submitted to Congress for confirmation, so there was still time for the trump campaign to overturn the fraudulent results. Republican electors in Georgia and Pennsylvania have already voted for Mr Trump.

Congress does take into account the votes of these “alternative electors” when it counts the electoral College results next year, but only if both houses of Congress approve the vote.

The above variables and typical precedent “alternative electoral strategy work” is, in the 1960 general election, vice President Nixon’s then republican out of choice, with Democrats running for President John Kennedy, the republican governor of Hawaii was confirmed Nicholson advantage by about 100 votes in the state to win, but republicans and Democrats at the same time the electoral vote for their party’s presidential candidate. As a result, Nixon was able to use his influence to give Hawaii’s electoral vote to John F. Kennedy in a congressional recount that helped overturn the state’s victory. It remains to be seen whether Mr Pence will exert a similar influence this time.