Published 21:21 IST, December 29th 2020
Mike Pence sued by several Republicans in closing attempts to overturn Biden's victory
In the latest attempt by US President Donald Trump supporters to overturn the victory of President-elect Joe Biden, several Republicans have sued Mike Pence.
In the latest attempt by US President Donald Trump supporters to overturn the victory of President-elect Joe Biden, several Republicans have sued Vice President Mike Pence. The last-ditch legal effort came from Representative Louie Gohmert, an eight-term congressman from Texas along with 11 Arizona residents who had been nominated by that state’s Republican Party to serve as electors.
Just a few days before Pence is scheduled to preside over the joint session of Congress where the Electoral College votes for Biden and Trump will be tallied, Gohmert’s suit asks federal judge Jeremy Kernodle, a Trump appointee to declare the US VP has the “exclusive authority and sole discretion” to decide which electoral votes from a given state should be counted.
The Electors had already cast their votes two weeks earlier when Biden received 306 electoral votes and Trump trailed at 232. The Democrat challenger was officially declared the winner as he received 36 more than the required votes. Despite Biden winning, Trump along with his supporters have not only rejected President-elect’s victory but also fueled the baseless campaign of the US Election 2020 being ‘rigged’ and ‘fraud’.
However, the pro-Trump electors in some states where Biden won have evidently cast their own ballots, the experts have reportedly said that those votes have no legal weight. Several Republicans joined in for a complaint that claims that part of the 1887 Electoral Count Act should be unconstitutional as it clashes with the 12th Amendment.
‘The suit will go nowhere’
Despite the efforts by the Republicans, Election law experts have reportedly said that the lawsuit is set to fail and Joshua Geltzer, executive director of Georgetown University’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection said, “The suit will go nowhere”. Edward Foley, a law professor at Ohio State University even called the lawsuit ‘inconsistent’.
“The idea that the Vice President has sole authority to determine whether or not to count electoral votes submitted by a state, or which of competing submissions to count, is inconsistent with a proper understanding of the Constitution,” said Foley.
Updated 21:21 IST, December 29th 2020