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CHICAGO (CBS) — This week, a rising variety of nationwide Republican lawmakers have pledged to take their remaining stand to contest presidential election outcomes.
Despite no credible proof of widespread voter fraud, 11 U.S. senators and round 140 House Republicans are anticipated to vote in opposition to the Electoral College depend slated for Wednesday.
And as U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) and the remainder of the 117th Congress increase their palms and swear in for 2021, the following step within the normal election between President-elect Joe Biden and President Donald Trump looms proper across the nook.
On Wednesday, an official depend of electoral votes shall be carried out at a joint session of Congress – a practice, and regulation, that began over a century in the past. State by state, congressmen and senators shall be given the possibility to object to their state’s outcomes – which traditionally doesn’t occur typically.
But this 12 months is a wildcard.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has led the cost of roughly a dozen senators who are usually not solely calling to object to the vote certifications, however are additionally asking to carry an emergency 10-day audit as a substitute.
CBS 2’s Marissa Parra requested veteran Chicago election legal professional Burt Odelson what the chances are high that an objection shall be granted.
“I think the likelihood is practically zero,” Odelson stated.
Democrats like Sen. Durbin have, as anticipated, come out swinging. Before his swearing-in ceremony, the senator launched a joint assertion asking Congress to maneuver ahead and respect “the will of the American people.”
But most notable is the rift inside the GOP – one thing we’re seeing play out on a neighborhood degree.
U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger has repeatedly taken to Twitter to debunk conspiracy theories surrounding voter fraud, stepping up Sunday morning to plead that Congress uphold the election outcomes.
This is completely appalling. To each member of Congress contemplating objecting to the election outcomes, you cannot- in mild of this- accomplish that with a clear conscience. #RestoreOurGOP https://t.co/5UzrK4G0Jn
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) January 3, 2021
Amen https://t.co/Q5LKbsoIJu
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) January 3, 2021
Latest “proof” from the conspiracy of us. Ballots “found in a warehouse.” Now are “being shredded”. 1) absentee ballots aren’t all used, these are extras. 2) they’re UNMARKED and sealed 3) unused ballots are shredded. 4) come on man pic.twitter.com/owBFZT2kkM
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) January 2, 2021
Shortly afterward, somebody modified Kinzinger’s Wikipedia web page to say he’s a “Republican in name only.” For the document, Kinzinger’s Wikipedia web page was modified again shortly after that occurred, however it speaks to the rising divide amongst Republicans with regards to supporting President Trump and his false election fraud claims.
“I see this as a dramatic, dramatic line in the sand for the Republican Party: those who want to follow in the Trump means of governing and trying to garner his supporters, and those who want to govern in the manner our founders set forth for us,” Odelson stated.
Odelson is not any stranger to contested elections. Remember George W. Bush vs. Al Gore in 2000? He had a entrance row seat for that.
A Florida newspaper picture from Nov. 29, 2000 exhibits Odelson holding up a poll weeks after Election Day, working as a guide for the Bush authorized staff.
The public needed to wait weeks to seek out out who can be their president. There had been recounts and it went to courtroom, however there’s a key distinction between then and now.
“There was no cries of fraud, phony – everything was proved. It went to court multiple times,” Odelson stated. “Remember, George Bush won Florida by 537 votes – 537 votes out of millions cast. So that was a real hardcore recount that meant something.”
And whereas the U.S. Supreme Court dominated in favor of Bush, Odelson stated, “Of over the 50 cases that have been filed by the Trump supporters, none – none – have been successful.”
Parra requested Odelson if the occasions following the 2020 election makes him frightened with regards to public belief within the election and the U.S. Constitution.
“Actually, I am worried,” he stated. “We have here a challenge to our democracy, because democracy has said Biden got 81 million, Trump got 74 million. That should be the end of the story.”
President-elect Biden is about to be sworn in Jan. 20 on his inauguration.
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