Rep. Elise Stefanik announced she plans to object to certifying the Electoral College results, joining a growing list of Republicans raising fears over claims of voter fraud.
“I plan to object to certain contested electors on January 6,” Stefanik told the New York Post. “I do not take this action lightly. I am acting to protect our Democratic process.”
Stefanik cited Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment, saying they give her an “obligation to act on this matter if I believe there are serious questions with respect to the Presidential election.”
“I believe those questions exist,” Stefanik said.
Stefanik pointed to irregularities in the results as well as “overreach” from “state officials and judges” as a cause for concern.
“Tens of millions of Americans are rightly concerned that the 2020 election featured unprecedented voting irregularities, unconstitutional overreach by unelected state officials and judges ignoring state election laws, and a fundamental lack of ballot integrity and security,” Stefanik said.
Stefanik joins a list of at least 140 congressional Republicans who have signaled their intent to object to certifying Biden’s Electoral College victory.
Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley are backing a similar effort in the Senate, where they and 10 other Republican senators have signaled that they will object to certifying the results while demanding an emergency audit of voter fraud claims.
The move to object to certification has caused division in the Republican Party. Rep. Chip Roy forced a vote on the House floor Sunday against seating lawmakers who object to the results in their states yet are willing to be seated themselves after winning the election on the same ballot.
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan chimed in as well, attacking members of his own party for doing “significant damage to American Democracy.”
“Efforts to reject the votes of the Electoral College and sow doubt about Joe Biden’s victory strike at the foundation of our republic,” Ryan said. “It is difficult to conceive of a more anti-democratic and anti-conservative act than a federal intervention to overturn the results of state-certified elections and disenfranchise millions of Americans. The fact that this effort will fail does not mean it will not do significant damage to American democracy.”
