8 PA Congressmen Say They Will Not Certify Joe Biden Electors

PENNSYLVANIA — Dozens of court cases contesting the 2020 election at both the federal and state level may have been dismissed in Pennsylvania, but a group of Pennsylvania congressmen are not ready to cede the chaotic season to the Democrats just yet.

Eight Republican U.S. Representatives from Pennsylvania have announced their intentions to stand against certifying last month's Electoral College vote naming Joe Biden as the next President of the United States. The Wednesday vote, to be held during a special joint session of U.S. Congress, marks the last procedural hurdle to be cleared before the Jan. 20 inauguration.

"The state's official certification of electors was based upon a flawed system and an inaccurate vote count," Congressman Guy Reschenthaler (PA-14) said in a statement. "Thus, very possibly resulting in an erroneous certification. Until these unlawful practices are acknowledged and corrected, we cannot agree to support electors chosen based upon an inaccurate total vote count."

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Reschenthaler and his seven colleagues join smatterings of other groups of Republicans across the nation who have similarly promised to vote against the certification of electors, with many of them citing issues over mail-in voting. At least a dozen senators, led by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, have announced plans to vote against the certification.

Election officials have stated repeatedly that there is no evidence fraud in the 2020 election, and that mail-in balloting is safe.

Reschenthaler was joined by fellow Congressmen Dan Mesuer (PA-9), Glenn Thompson (PA-15), Mike Kelly (PA-16), Scott Perry (PA-10), Lloyd Smucker (PA-11), John Joyce (PA-13), and Fred Keller (PA-12).

In a statement, the group raised several points that were common to the dozens of lawsuits filed throughout November and December alleging illegal activity during the election in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey has been vocal in his criticism of President Trump and in the effort to disrupt the electoral process. He said he acknowledged the 2020 election had "irregularities," but that "evidence is overwhelming" that Biden won.

"I voted for President Trump and endorsed him for re-election," Toomey shared on Twitter over the weekend. "But, on Wednesday, I intend to vigorously defend our form of government by opposing this effort to disenfranchise millions of voters in my state and others."

Counting and confirming the Electoral College votes, also provided for under the 12th Amendment, is, in most years, a formality. Challenges to the validity of the electoral vote have been allowed under federal election law since 1887 through the Electoral Count Act, and trace back to a contentious 1876 election, which both Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden claimed to win.

To bring the objections to the election results to debate, at least one member each of the Senate or House of Representatives must make them in writing, according to the Congressional Research Service.

In that instance, the two houses separate and debate the question in their respective chambers for up to two hours; vote separately to accept or reject the objection; and then reassemble in the joint session, where their respective votes are announced. Both houses would have been required to vote to reject a state’s electoral votes for any contested votes to be excluded.

Among other oft-repeated concerns, the Pennsylvania Republicans claim that mail-in ballots were "cured" of errors only in Democratic areas, that poll watchers were not granted close enough access to ballot canvassing in Philadelphia, and that laws requiring signature matches were not followed.

"The Pennsylvania election could be summed up as a free-for-all with no oversight and different standards applied throughout the Commonwealth," Reschenthaler added. "It is also very apparent that the unlawful actions described were concentrated in heavily populated, Democrat-led counties."

In 2016, half a dozen House Democrats objected to the electoral count after Trump's victory, after Hillary Clinton won the national popular vote. Then Vice President Biden was unequivocal in performing his role, pointing to the group's lack of procedural standing.

“There is no debate,” Biden said at the time. “There is no debate. If there is not one signed by a senator, the objection cannot be entertained.”