Group of Republican senators will refuse to certify victory for Biden

A group of eleven Republican senators announced this Saturday that they will oppose the certification that Congress must make of the result of the elections in the United States, a decision that could delay the confirmation of the victory of Joe Biden, although not prevent it.

So far, only one senator, Josh Hawley, had voiced his intention to formally question the Democrat’s victory on Wednesday, an unusual act that threatens to expose tensions within the Republican Party.

“Congress should immediately appoint an electoral commission, with full authority to investigate” possible “electoral fraud,” seven sitting senators and four newly elected senators said in a statement, echoing accusations that outgoing President Donald Trump has made. released for almost two months without showing evidence.

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This commission “will carry out a 10-day emergency audit on the results in the states” in which both candidates were fighting for a very close victory, proposed the group, led by the influential senator Ted Cruz, representative of Texas.

Without this audit, “we will vote on January 6 to reject the voters of the states in dispute,” he added.

In the United States, the president is elected by indirect universal suffrage. The Electoral College, which functions as an intermediary, ratified Biden’s victory on December 14, with 306 voters against Trump’s 232.

The House of Representatives and the Senate will meet Wednesday to certify these results, a procedure that is usually a mere formality.

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But the outgoing president still refuses to acknowledge his defeat and urged his supporters to demonstrate in Washington that day.

In the House of Representatives (Lower), with a Democratic majority, more than a hundred Republicans plan to vote against the certification, according to CNN.

But neither house will have enough votes for the strategy to succeed.

“We are not naive. We know that the majority, if not all Democrats, and perhaps a few Republicans, will vote the opposite,” the eleven senators acknowledged in their statement.

Trump has regularly urged Republican lawmakers to support him in his crusade to challenge the results of the November presidential election.

His attempts have totally failed in court. The most recent legal recourse, brought by Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert, was rejected Friday in Texas for lack of sufficient evidence.