GOP senators to seek emergency audit of election results
WASHINGTON (SBG) — A group of Republican senators is planning to object to the certification of election results unless there is an emergency 10-day audit.
The effort is being led by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who called for an audit into the results of closely decided swing states which made Democrat Joe Biden the president-elect. In a statement, Cruz said this election had unprecedented allegations of voting fraud and other irregularities that deserve to be investigated to restore faith in American elections.
“A fair and credible audit-conducted expeditiously and completed well before January 20-would dramatically improve Americans' faith in our electoral process and would significantly enhance the legitimacy of whoever becomes our next President,” Cruz said. “We owe that to the People.”
Congress is set to meet Jan. 6 to certify the election results, the last procedural hurdle for Biden to clear before being sworn into office Jan. 20. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and numerous GOP House members have already said they will object to the results on President Donald Trump’s behalf.
An objection by a member of the Senate and House forces legislators to enter a session to debate certification. The effort will delay the certification of Biden’s victory, but is highly unlikely to alter the outcome.
Trump and his allies have filed dozens of lawsuits in several swing states Biden won in the November election alleging mass voter fraud and other irregularities in an effort to overturn the results and keep the president in office for a second term.
Nearly all the cases were dismissed and many of the claims have been disputed or debunked by local election officials, including Republicans. The Supreme Court also declined to hear two cases disputing the results, which Cruz volunteered to argue on the president’s behalf.
Former Attorney General William Barr has said there is no evidence of fraud to support overturning the election, but that has not stopped the president, his legal team, or allies in Washington from continuing to question the results.
"These are matters worthy of the Congress, and entrusted to us to defend. We do not take this action lightly. We are acting not to thwart the democratic process, but rather to protect it,” Cruz said in a statement. “And every one of us should act together to ensure that the election was lawfully conducted under the Constitution and to do everything we can to restore faith in our Democracy."
Others joining Cruz’s effort include 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 Sens.-elect Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Tommy Tubberville of Alabama.
