A negative challenge by either member of the House or Senate will trigger a debate and vote in both chambers on Jan. 6 in a joint session of Congress on the results of the state Electoral College vote in the U.S. presidential election. In the U.S. House of Representatives, several Republican lawmakers have already confirmed they will file a challenge, and on Dec. 30, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Texas) confirmed he will be the challenger on Jan. 6.
Josh Hawley, a constitutional lawyer, became the first senator to confirm a challenge, joining more than a dozen Republican House members who have launched challenges. Hawley’s statement said the voices of millions of voters concerned about the integrity of the election need to be heeded. “I will represent them (in voicing) opposition to the Electoral College vote results on Jan. 6.” At the very least, Congress should investigate allegations of voter fraud and ensure that future elections are secure, Hawley said, criticizing Congress. But Congress has so far failed to act.
Other reasons for his decision, Hawley said, are that “I can’t vote to certify (those states’) Electoral College vote results on Jan. 6 without presenting the fact that certain states, particularly Pennsylvania, have not complied with their own state election laws.”
While making his case for the challenge, Hawley was not above criticism, saying, “I also have to bring up the unprecedented efforts by large (tech) companies, including Facebook and Twitter, to interfere in this election in support of Joe Biden.”
In his statement, Hawley also noted that Democrats raised objections during the certification of the 2004 and 2016 election results “to raise concerns about the integrity of the election.” “When they raised objections (to the opinion), they were praised by Democratic leaders and the media that they ‘had the right to do so,’ and Republicans who were concerned about the integrity of the Nov. 3 election ‘had the right to do the same thing ‘” “For these reasons, I will follow the practice of Democratic members of Congress over the past several years and raise objections and these key issues during the Jan. 6 certification process.”
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