[Epoch Times News on January 5, 2021](Reported by Epoch Times reporter Lin Yan) Wednesday (January 6) US CongressJoint meetingCertificationElectoral CollegeWhat will the voting result be? Simply put, it is still full of uncertainty.
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives requireElectoral CollegeMembers must be in Congress to vote, but because of the diagnosis and isolation caused by the epidemic, no one knows which congressmen will appear on January 6. The difference in the number of members of the two parties in this Congress is very close.
On January 6, the Speaker of the Senate, Vice President Pence will preside in the Chamber of the House of RepresentativesJoint meeting, The electoral votes will be read and counted in alphabetical order by two members appointed by each house of the Senate.
They will give the statistical results to Pence, who will announce the results and listen to the opposition. If there are objections, the Senate and House of Representatives will consider them separately to decide how to calculate these votes.
Specifically, what happens when at least one member of the House of Representatives and one senator jointly oppose a state’s electoral vote in writing? Take the key state Arizona (Arizona) As an example to understand the process.
What will the two houses do after the challenge is triggered?
Republican Rep. Mo Brooks and dozens of Rep. are expected to challenge Arizona’s electoral list. And Republican Senator Josh Hawley (Josh Hawley) has also stated that he will join the challenge of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
Although the coalition of 11 Republican Senators led by Senator Ted Cruz did not make it clear that they would challenge the electors of a certain state at the meeting, they said that if Congress does not activate a committee to investigate election fraud, they It is intended to vote to reject electors in the disputed state on January 6.
This means that the joint meeting will be suspended for 2 hours when the votes are cast to a certain state, and then the two houses of Congress will meet separately. The House of Representatives can continue to meet together in the Chamber of the House of Representatives; the senators pass through the rotunda of the Capitol and return to the Chamber of the Senate.
During these two hours, the House of Representatives and the Senate will individually consider and debate any queries from the challengers to the Arizona electoral list.
Within two hours, a member who wants to speak can speak for up to 5 minutes. Then, the House of Representatives and the Senate must vote separately. The Senate and the House of Representatives need to veto at the same time before a state’s electoral votes are considered invalid.
If this happens, the electoral list will disappear. Then the Senate and House of Representatives reconvened a joint meeting to continue processing the electoral votes of other states.
In other words, the decision to abandon the electoral votes of a certain state requires the approval of the majority of the Senate and House of Representatives.
Judging from the current situation, it is very difficult for the majority of the Senate and House of Representatives to agree to abolish the electoral votes of a certain state due to the lack of support from Democrats and the disagreement among Republicans.
How many members of the two parties can attend is unknown
So far, Democrats will almost certainly vote to reject any election challenge from Republicans. Similarly, there must be a certain number of Republicans who will challenge the Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives.
In addition, because of the COVID-19 epidemic, the number of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives is not very different. On January 4, a 77-year-old newly-elected female representative of the Texas Republican Party was diagnosed with the diagnosis. She attended the congressional initiation ceremony on the 3rd; Speaker Pelosi recalled a confirmed Democratic congressman to vote on the 3rd and help The Democratic Party retained the seat of Speaker of the House.
Therefore, it is impossible to predict how many people will not be able to attend due to the positive test or close contact on January 6.
The House of Representatives has restored its “remote voting” system in the 117th new Congress, and the Senate has never set a rule for remote voting. However, the House of Representatives was prohibited from using remote voting during the electoral college certification period.
When will the meeting end?Maybe until 7th
Therefore, under the current expectations of 6-7 key states, the challenge will probably require several hours to extend the meeting. Considering that each state has a two-hour debate time limit and the time required for a roll-call vote, the House of Representatives averages about one hour per roll-call vote, followed by etiquette, speeches, and passing uncontested voters At the time of the group list, the final certification of the electoral vote may extend into the early morning of January 7, or the late night of January 7, or even longer.
The Election Counting Act allows Congress to adjourn. But before the Electoral College is finalized, the Senate and House of Representatives must not dissolve the joint meeting of Congress, and Congress must conclude the matter within five days.
A roll-call vote is triggered for each disputed state, and then members of the Senate and House of Representatives clarify their position on the Electoral College in, for example, Pennsylvania or Michigan.
Why do some Republicans oppose the challenge?
The vote of congressmen may be a double-edged sword, and the votes for or against the Republican congressmen in some states or regions—statements about presidential candidates—may help or hurt voters behind their own districts. Choosing the wrong direction can be politically dangerous.
This is exactly why Senate Majority Leader McConnell and other Republicans want to avoid this kind of election dilemma. For Republicans, they must make a choice.
For Democratic congressmen, if a large amount of fraudulent evidence is revealed in their electoral district without explaining the reason, they will also face serious integrity doubts.
In any case, by January 6, 7 or 8, members of Congress will have a decision. Everyone in Congress will be put on record, either upholding the results of the Electoral College or rejecting them.
What if no candidate gets 270 votes?
The joint meeting of Congress on January 6 will count the electoral college votes. A total of 538 electoral votes-one for Congress and one for Senator, plus three for Washington, DC.
If no presidential candidate gets a majority—that is, the threshold of 270 votes—then the 435 members of the House of Representatives will decide the outcome of the election.
By then, members of the House of Representatives will be counted according to one state, one vote. The Republican Party currently controls more state delegations, so it is more likely to choose Trump.
The House of Representatives can choose a president before noon on January 20. If they cannot be elected, they will be elected by the vice president or the next qualified presidential successor.
The Senate needs to elect a vice president.
Georgia’s 5th re-election may occur during the meeting
The House of Representatives currently has 432 members, including 222 Democrats, 210 Republicans and 3 vacant seats; the Senate currently has 51 Republicans and 48 Democratic senators.
The Georgia Senate re-election on January 5 will determine the pattern of the Senate.
Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler (Kelly Loeffler), who succeeded Joe State Republican Senator Johnny Isakson who resigned due to health issues on January 6, 2019, will continue to serve as Senator if she wins. Two years later expired; and Republican Senator David Perdue’s term ended on January 1, and he sought re-election.
If the result of the re-election of Joe State’s senator is released during the joint meeting, it means that the structure of the Senate may change halfway. If the Democratic Party wins two seats in the Senate of Joe State, the Senate pattern will become 50 to 50, and the succeeding vice president will have a decisive vote; if the Republican Party can retain at least one vote, it will still maintain a majority in the Senate by a narrow margin. Party seats.
Editor in charge: Lin Yan #
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