(NEXSTAR) – A coalition of congress members say they will contest the electoral college results if an emergency audit is not completed beforehand.
Nearly a dozen Senate Republicans and over 100 House Republicans say they will fight back against the constitutionally required vote, which is set to happen Wednesday.
“We want to object to states where there was such massive fraud,” said Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kan.).
Estes was among a chorus of congressional members insisting that elections in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Georgia require re-examination.
While Republicans admitted their objections are unlikely to change the election results, they still consider the debate important.
“We do have a role to make sure laws are followed,” Estes said.
The Republican movement faced backlash from Democrats who believe their congressional peers are undermining the process of democracy.
“This is not the way the greatest democracy in the world should be operating,” Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) said.
Echoed Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.). “The elections have been decided and the people have made their choice.”
Some Republicans also decried the movement, including former House Speaker Paul Ryan, who said in a statement that “Biden’s victory is entirely legitimate” and that efforts to sow doubt about the election “strike at the foundation of our republic.”
Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the third-ranking House Republican, warned in a memo to colleagues that objections to the electoral college results “set an exceptionally dangerous precedent.”
Other prominent former officials also criticized the ongoing attack on election results. In a brief op-ed in The Washington Post, the 10 living former defense secretaries — half of them having served Republican presidents — called on Pentagon officials to carry out the transition to the new administration “fully, cooperatively and transparently.” They also asserted that efforts to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes “would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory.”
Despite President Trump’s claims of voter fraud, state officials have insisted the elections ran smoothly and there was no evidence of fraud or other problems that would change the outcome. The states have certified their results as fair and valid. Of the more than 50 lawsuits the president and his allies have filed challenging election results, nearly all have been dismissed or dropped. He’s also lost twice at the U.S. Supreme Court.
The certification process — the final step before President-Elect Joe Biden is sworn in Jan. 20 — begins at noon Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
