(WBAP/KLIF) — A group of republican senators led by Ted Cruz, of Texas plan to object to the January 6th certification of the presidential election results next week. The GOP lawmakers want an emergency 10-day audit of the results by an electoral commission. Cruz and the other senators claim the November 3rd election “featured unprecedented allegations of voter fraud and illegal conduct.” According to Fox news, the lawmakers say there is a precedent of democrats objecting to election results in 1969, 2001, 2005 and 2019.
Joining Cruz are Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; James Lankford, R-Okla.; Steve Daines, R-Mont.; John Kennedy, R-La.; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Mike Braun, R-Ind.; as well as Sens.-elect Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.; Roger Marshall, R-Kansas; Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.
Their effort is separate from one announced by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who said this week that he will object to what he claims was the failure of some states — most notably Pennsylvania — to follow their own election laws. “Voter fraud has posed a persistent challenge in our elections, although its breadth and scope are disputed,” the lawmakers said Saturday in a statement. “By any measure, the allegations of fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election exceed any in our lifetimes.”
While the Trump campaign has challenged the results in dozens of lawsuits, judges have dismissed them due to a lack of evidence. Attorney General William Barr said last month that “to date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.” A source familiar with the effort by the GOP senators told Fox News that it was Cruz who orchestrated the push just days before the joint session of Congress on Wednesday to officially approve the Electoral College votes electing former Vice President Joe Biden.
The lawmakers say there is a precedent of Democrats objecting to election results in 1969, 2001, 2005 and 2019. “And, in both 1969 and 2005, a Democratic Senator joined with a Democratic House Member in forcing votes in both houses on whether to accept the presidential electors being challenged,” they said.
The senators and senators-elect are calling for Congress to appoint a commission to conduct a 10-day emergency audit of the election returns in states where the results are disputed. They cite as precedent the 1877 race between Samuel Tilden and Rutherford Hayes in which there were allegations of fraud in multiple states.
“In 1877, Congress did not ignore those allegations, nor did the media simply dismiss those raising them as radicals trying to undermine democracy,” the lawmakers said in the statement. “Instead, Congress appointed an Electoral Commission — consisting of five Senators, five House Members, and five Supreme Court Justices — to consider and resolve the disputed returns.”
“We should follow that precedent. To wit, Congress should immediately appoint an Electoral Commission, with full investigatory and fact-finding authority, to conduct an emergency 10-day audit of the election returns in the disputed states. Once completed, individual states would evaluate the Commission’s findings and could convene a special legislative session to certify a change in their vote, if needed.”
If that doesn’t happen, the senators intend to vote against certification.
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