Even after the Electoral College confirmed the victory of Democrat Joe Biden, incumbent President Donald Trump continues to challenge the outcome of the 2020 US presidential election. A White House consultant CNN Trump will now try to play his last remaining card: he is running in the Electoral College poll in the U.S. Congress. The probability of “reversing” the current congressional decision, even if it is on paper, is very low, as shown in a New York Times Analysis.
The Electoral College certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election is the last chance for Donald Trump and his supporters to defeat the referendum. This “last stronghold” is the US Congress, which is considered Trump’s last stronghold.
According to the calendar of these elections contested, on January 6, 2021, the votes of the college will be counted and announced in Congress, and the final result will be certified.
This practice is standard, systematic, and occurs every four years during the US presidential election without significant incidents: members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate meet at a joint meeting to confirm the outcome of the election college vote.
NYT analysis shows that things will look different this time around, and that the US Congress could turn into a political war, much worse.
If this “last bastion” of Republicans falls, Vice President Mike Pence, the president of the U.S. Senate, will have the thankless task of officially confirming that Donald Trump is a “loser.”
What does the US Constitution say about the voting contest in Congress at the Electoral College?
The US Constitution states that the US Congress has the final say in the outcome of the presidential election.
On January 6, each of the newly elected representatives of Congress will check the envelopes containing the results of the 50 U.S. states’ ballots. They must be “compliant and trustworthy” and then presented to Senate President Mike Pence, who will review and approve them.
This practice was established by the 1887 Electoral Act.
Elected members may oppose the decision, but these objections will only be considered if they are signed by at least one member of each U.S. House of Representatives.
So, occasionally, a chamber member raises such an objection as a kind of protest. Finally in 2017, when several Democrats challenged Trump’s victory against Hillary Clinton in 2016, as a result of allegations that Moscow was involved in the electoral process.
In this case, however, Hillary Clinton has already publicly acknowledged her defeat to Trump, and in addition, no Democratic senator has joined the objection, which was soon rejected.
Members of the House of Representatives still have the rare opportunity to “team up” with another member of the Senate in this regard.
If this happens, however, the session of Congress will be adjourned, and each House will meet separately to discuss the objection: in this case both parties must vote separately in favor of the objection (in practice, the vote in the Electoral College).
In particular, what mathematical opportunities does Trump have in Congress to turn the vote in his favor?
Alabama Republican Representative Mo Brooks will attempt to challenge the outcome of the vote in five key states: Arizona, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin, and may claim election fraud, although all of these states have certified official results, and allegations of theft have not been proven.
Beyond that, the key to success is, first and foremost, joining the Republican senator. In this way, the position of forming a committee consisting of a “representative” (Mo Brooks) and a “senator” (whoever he is) will be “chosen”.
For now, Trump’s problem is that no Republican senator has publicly announced his intention to join the game.
Even if a senator finally agrees to join the move, both the House of Representatives and the Senate must vote.
But since Democrats control the House and Republicans have a small majority in the Senate, the NYT says Trump supporters are unlikely to “turn” votes in one of the five most important and unlikely states. .
