Challenges to the Electoral College Vote

For John, BLUF:  The Electoral College process is unfamiliar to most of us and here is an article that explains it.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Here’s how Congress will count Electoral College votes

From The Boston Globe, by Associated Press Writer Mary Clare Jalonick, 30 December 30, 2020.

Here is the lede plus one:

The congressional joint session to count electoral votes is generally a routine, ceremonious affair.  But President Donald Trump’s repeated, baseless efforts to challenge Democrat Joe Biden’s victory will bring more attention than usual to next Wednesday’s joint session of the Senate and the House.

The congressional count is the final step in reaffirming Biden’s win, after the Electoral College officially elected him on Dec 14.  The meeting is required by the Constitution and includes several distinct steps.

Republicans who are echoing Trump's baseless claims of fraud have said they will officially object to the results, forcing votes in the Republican-run Senate and the Democratic-controlled House that will almost certainly fail.  A group of House Republicans had been looking for a senator to sign on because there must be support from at least one member of each chamber to force the votes.  That support came Wednesday from Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, a possible contender in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.

Did Ms Jalonick just use the phrase "baseless claims" twice in three paragraphs.  It sounds like she is selling something.  Selling something I am not buying.  Yes, I expect former VEEP Joe Biden to be sworn in as the next President of this Republic.  That does not mean that there is not a foul stench eminating from several locations where votes were counted.  On top of that, voting machines with proprietary software is just unconsionable.

Hat tip to Ann Althouse for also addressing this process and for talking about Democratic Party Congresscritters running their own objections to Electors over a number of recent elections where Republican candidates won.  Yesterday she had a Blog Post on this, "Mr. Hawley’s challenge is not unprecedented... Democrats in both the House and Senate challenged certification of the 2004 election results...".  Quoting from the NYT:

"... and House Democrats tried on their own to challenge the 2016 and 2000 outcomes, though without Senate support.  ... Senator Barbara Boxer of California... briefly delayed the certification of George W. Bush’s victory... cit[ing] claims that Ohio election officials had improperly purged voter rolls... which Mr. Bush carried by fewer than 120,000 votes.  Nancy Pelosi, then the House Democratic leader, supported the challenge....  The House voted 267 to 31 against the challenge and the Senate rejected it 74 to 1...  After the 2016 election, several House Democrats tried again, rising during the joint session to register challenges against Mr. Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in various states.  The Democrats cited reasons ranging from long lines at polling sites to the Kremlin’s election influence operation."

Her punch line:

So... in the last three decades, every time a Republican won, Congressional Democrats challenged the certification of the election, and every time a Democrat won, Congressional Republicans did not challenge the certification.

That certainly puts a different light on what Josh Hawley is doing!

Indeed it does.

Regards  —  Cliff