More than 140 GOP congressmen are planning on voting against the certification of the Electoral College vote and the affirmation of President-elect Joe Biden‘s victory on January 6.
Following Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) declaring Wednesday that he would be objecting to certifying the Electoral College vote count on Jan. 6 in the Senate, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-Louisiana) announced Thursday that he would join Hawley in rejecting the results of the presidential election when Congress meets to count.
“I will object to the certification of electoral votes on January 6th. Reports of voter fraud and actions by some states to alter election processes in an unlawful manner have not been properly reviewed,” Higgins said in a statement.
The announcement is the latest in President Donald Trump and allies’ frenzied efforts to overturn the election results. Hawley became the first senator to declare that he would object when Congress counts the Electoral College votes next week, which would force lawmakers in both chambers to vote on whether to accept the results of Biden’s victory.
Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Virginia) told Forbes that a “staggering number” of his colleagues would likely object, adding that “140 certainly seems possible… I wouldn’t be surprised if it were a little higher.”
Riggleman said he initially expected around a hundred objections but that “pressure [is] being exerted” on House Republicans – as evidenced by state delegations putting out joint statements promising to bar the vote.
If the Congressmen and Senators follow through with their plan to object, the House and Senate will be forced to go into separate sessions to consider the objection on January 6. For the process to move forward, both chambers must agree to it by a simple majority vote, which they are unlikely to do.
