Do US voters have to change the US presidential vote?

Joe Biden, now vice president, presented the election certificate to Representative Candice Miller (Republican Party) of Michigan during the joint session of the 113th Parliament to count the electoral college votes on April 4. -1-2013 – Photo (documentary): GETTY IMAGES

Every four years, the Electoral College will have one day to vote for the president and vice president for a new term. So far, all 50 US states have confirmed the results of the last general election with the victory of Joe Biden. However, the polling station vote on December 14 (US time) will be an important step in formalizing that result.

The electoral college voting process

Under the United States Constitution, electors vote directly for the president. These people are elected by the political parties in each state before the general election on 8-11 this year.

The candidates receiving the most votes in each state’s election shall be elected by the electors of that state as president on the electoral college ballot.

After the results of the state’s vote are confirmed, the governor will prepare a certificate showing the names of the electors and the number of votes for that state.

Under federal law, voters meet in their respective states to vote. Most presidential elections take place in the state parliament building. In many states, voters can meet in the office of a governor or state election official.

This year, voters in Indiana, Tennessee and Vermont are the first states to vote, at 10:00 am on December 14. Then the battle states of Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, and ended at 1:00 p.m. in Wisconsin and Michigan at 2:00 p.m. the same day.

Once the electoral votes have been completed and Mr. Biden passes the 270 electoral vote mark, he will be officially elected president and Senator Kamala Harris will be the vice president-elect. The two will be sworn in on January 20, 2021.

According to the plan, Joe Biden will speak about the results of the electoral college elections around 8:00 p.m. on December 14.

Once the electoral college has finished voting, the states will send votes to Washington. Here the votes will be counted in the general session of the National Assembly at 1:00 p.m. on January 6, 2021. The President of the Senate, now Vice President Mike Pence, will officially announce the winner.

The United States Supreme Court has received more than 12 petitions to influence the court’s decision to accept the lawsuit over the results of the Texas presidential election – Photo (illustration): NYT

Can voters change their votes?

One question that many people want to know is whether in the final stage of formalizing the results of the US presidential elections, voters can change voluntarily, without following the confirmed results of the state elections. of the popular vote?

According to radio NBC NewsThe answer is “maybe”, but this rarely happens.

Since 1948 there have been only 16 “incredulous voters”, but in particular up to 7 of them were from the 2016 presidential elections, of which 5 people transferred their vote to him. Hillary Clinton gave it to someone else and the two passed Trump’s vote to someone else.

So far, 32 states and the District of Columbia have laws that require voters to vote for a candidate they have pledged to support, of which 15 have specific penalties for voters if they do. disbelief, the ballot changes at “minute 90”.

This year, the United States Supreme Court also reserved states’ right to punish disbelieving voters.

Another question that also worries many people, can Congress prevent the Electoral College from counting the votes on January 6?

In this regard, according to NBC News, in terms of procedures and processes there is a “yes”, but based on current reality, a “no”.

Under an 1887 law, a congressman (a senator) and a senator could jointly file documents that opposed the state’s vote count.

Republican Congressman Brooks in Alabama also announced that he would do so on December 14. However, as of now, no senator said they would join the protest with Brooks.

If Mr. Brooks can find a partner, the count of the state involved will stop and the Senate and House will discuss the objection independently for up to two hours. The bicameral parliament will then vote whether to accept the objection.

Both houses will also have to vote independently to see if the objection can be accepted or the objection fails.

Currently the United States House of Representatives is controlled by Democrats and the Republican Party has a fragile majority in the Senate, so the possibility that Congress prevents the counting of electoral votes is considered impossible.

There have been two such protests from 1887 to the present, one in 1969 that involved an incredulous voter and another in 2005 that involved violations of voting rules in Ohio. However, both were unsuccessful.