(WAVY) — On Wednesday, Congress meets to certify the presidential election. However, dozens of Republican lawmakers plan to object to Joe Biden’s victory.
With the runoff elections in Georgia Tuesday and the certification of electoral votes Wednesday Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) expects it to be a wild 72 hours in our nation’s politics.
It’s the final step in the election process and usually a procedural event, but with some lawmakers contesting the results of the election, counting Electoral College votes will look different.
Warner says these challenges compromise American democracy.
“American elected officials should not undermine Americans’ confidence in our elections, that plays directly into the hands of our adversaries, whether it be Russia, China, Iran or others,” said Warner. “Unfortunately, we can see Donald Trump putting his own personal ego head of national interests.”
He says claims of widespread fraud are not true.
“If there were efforts to come forward with additional evidence, that would’ve been brought forward in the courts. We’ve seen over 60 courts rule against these Trump efforts,” Warner said.
Warner also praised the Senate for overriding Trump’s veto of the Defense Authorization Bill.
“It’s legislation that’s extraordinarily important to Virginia,” said Warner. “Close to 80 votes in the Senate voted to override the president. Close to a 3% pay raise for our military members, a second Virginia-class submarine, additional focus on military housing, an issue that’s very important to me.”
Even with tension in Washington, Warner believes American democracy is strong.
“Americans voted in record numbers, foreign intervention was kept to a bare minimum, our intelligence community did it’s job, Americans voted peacefully even though they have very different views,” said Warner.