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- The Republicans Sens. Mitt Romney, Pat Toomey and Lisa Murkowski have said they will oppose an effort by their colleagues to challenge the election results.
- Senator Ted Cruz is among a group of GOP senators who have said they will oppose certification of the electoral college votes on Wednesday in a joint session of Congress that is usually procedural.
- This effort may delay the certification of results, but it will not change the results of the vote in any state in the United States.
- In a Saturday statement, Romney said the effort “may bolster the political ambition of some, but dangerously threatens our Democratic Republic.”
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney and other Republican senators said on Saturday they would oppose an effort by their colleagues to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Earlier today, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas announced that he would oppose certification of Electoral College votes, and a number of GOP senators are expected to join him.
“The blatant voter rejection ploy may bolster the political ambition of some, but dangerously threatens our Democratic Republic,” Romney said in a statement.
President-elect Joe Biden won the election garnering 306 votes to 232. The results were certified in all states and presidential voters cast their ballots last month.
Voters’ votes are expected to be certified on Wednesday in a joint session of Congress that is usually procedural, confirming the winner that voters and the Electoral College have already chosen.
Cruz’s effort to oppose might delay the certification of results, but it won’t change election results in any US state.
Romney sternly rejected the effort, stressing the will of voters.
“If Congress really rejected the state’s voters, supporters would inevitably demand the same thing every time their candidate lost,” Romney said. “Congress, not the voters of the respective states, would choose our presidents.”
Republicans considering opposing it would demand a 10-day emergency audit of election results in some states, although Romney also noted that the Trump campaign has lost all of its election lawsuits and the Justice Department has no ‘found no evidence of widespread electoral fraud that would change the outcome.
He also criticized Trump directly for calling his supporters rally in Washington on the day the vote is certified, saying it could lead to “disruption, and worse.”
“I could never have imagined seeing these things in the world’s largest democracy,” Romney said. “Has ambition so eclipsed principle?”
Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have also said they will oppose the effort.
“A fundamental and defining characteristic of a democratic republic is the right of the people to elect their own leaders,” Toomey said in a series of tweets the Saturday.
He said that Cruz and others’ attempt to overturn the election results “directly violates this right”.
Toomey said Senators justify their objection by citing allegations of fraud, but that “allegations of fraud by a losing campaign cannot justify quashing an election.” He also said judges across the United States have determined that the fraud claims were not supported by evidence.
He said he voted for Trump, but planned to “vigorously defend our form of government by opposing this effort to deprive millions of voters in my state and others.”
Murkowski also said in a declaration On Saturday she will vote to affirm the results of the Electoral College and urged senators from both parties to do the same.
“State courts and legislatures have all honored their duty to hear the legal claims and have found nothing to justify overturning the results,” she said.
Republicans who reportedly intend to oppose certification of results include Cruz, Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Steve Daines of Montana, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Mike Braun of Indiana and the Senses. -select Cynthia Lummis from Wyoming, Roger Marshall from Kansas, Bill Hagerty from Tennessee and Tommy Tuberville from Alabama.
Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri also said on Wednesday that he intended to oppose.
In an email to GOP senators on Saturday night, Hawley called the recent comments “blatant personal attacks,” Politico reported. Toomey specifically named Hawley in his anti-democracy comments.
“We should avoid putting words in our mouths and making unsubstantiated claims about the intentions of our fellow senators,” Hawley said, according to Politico. “I never pretend to speak for another senator, but I speak for my constituents when they raise legitimate concerns on issues as important as the fairness of our elections.”
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