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Hawley is the first senator to announce plans to object to the results, which is significant because both a member of the House and the senator must file an objection when Congress counts Electoral College votes on January 6.
The objection will not change the outcome of the election, it will only delay the inevitable claim of Biden’s victory in November over President Donald Trump. Democrats will reject any objection in the House, and several Republican senators have argued against an objection that will provide a platform for Trump’s unfounded conspiracy theories that they claim he stole the election.
Hawley’s objection, which other senators may still join, will also put many of his Republican colleagues in the Senate in a difficult political position, forcing them to vote on whether to side with Trump or the popular will of voters.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell privately urged Senate Republicans not to join the group of House members who plan to oppose it. Senate Majority Whip John Thune publicly objected, prompting a reprimand from Trump on Twitter and the threat of a primary challenge.
Trump has been pushing for Congress to try to overturn the election result, as his campaign’s attempts to overturn the election through the courts have repeatedly been rejected.
McConnell has made it clear in his conference that objecting is an unsuccessful effort that will not only prolong the process, but will force many Republicans to vote against Trump once the process is complete. McConnell’s top MPs have shared similar views with members of the Senate Republican Party, say his aides.
But that hasn’t stopped several Republican senators from keeping the option open. It is a place that places them between McConnell, who will continue to serve as the party’s Senate leader and the highest-ranking Republican in the country, and Trump, who will soon leave office but whose power within the party, particularly with his base. , remains unquestionable.
There is no evidence of widespread election fraud, and in a statement explaining his decision to object, Hawley did not file allegations of widespread fraud. He claimed that some states, such as Pennsylvania, did not follow their own laws, although issues related to Pennsylvania’s vote-by-mail rules were litigated before the election. Hawley also complained about the way social media companies like Facebook and Twitter handled election-related content.
“I cannot vote to certify the results of the electoral college on January 6 without mentioning the fact that some states, particularly Pennsylvania, did not follow their own state election laws,” Hawley said. “At a minimum, Congress should investigate allegations of voter fraud and take steps to ensure the integrity of our elections. But so far Congress has not acted.”
Hawley also cited previous Democratic objections during the Electoral College vote count, saying that just as Democrats had a “right to do so,” that “now those of us concerned about the integrity of this election have a right to do the same.”
If an objection from a legislator is presented in both the House and Senate during the joint session of Congress, the two houses separate and debate the matter for two hours, before voting on whether to uphold the objection.
Rep. Mo Brooks, the Alabama Republican who is leading the effort to object in the House, said earlier this month that Republicans were considering opposing six states that Biden won, meaning up to 12 hours of debate that would turn the process. in a political circus and could be spilled on a second day of debate.
House Democrats opposed Trump’s victory in several states in 2017, and also President George W. Bush’s victory in Florida in 2001, but no senators joined them and the protest died.
The last time the chambers voted on an objection was in 2005, when the then Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat from California, joined the then Representative. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Democrat from Ohio, to oppose Bush’s victory in Ohio. Hawley cited the objection in his statement Wednesday.
“Our intention was not to reverse the election in any way. Our intention was to focus on voter suppression in Ohio,” said Boxer, who is retired from the Senate. “They’re talking about the vote that the presidency was stolen from Donald Trump. It’s not even a close comparison.”
