Ahead of Wednesday’s joint session of the congress, US President Donald Trump says Mike Pence, the vice president, has the power to “reject fraudulently chosen electors”.
The January 6 session is usually a formal exercise presided over by the vice-president acting in as presiding officer of the senate to certify Electoral College votes.
In the November 3 presidential election, Joe Biden, candidate of the Democratic Party, secured 306 electoral votes to defeat Trump, incumbent president, who polled 232 electoral votes, more than the 270 threshold needed to win.
While Biden polled 81,283,485 popular votes, Trump secured 74,233,744 votes.
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But Trump has refused to concede the election, alleging that it was characterised by “massive fraud”.
He filed numerous lawsuits to challenge the victory of Biden but lost.
On December 14, 2020, when the Electoral College met over the election, Biden’s victory was affirmed by the state electors.
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The last hope for Trump to overturn the presidential election appears to be the Wednesday’s joint session of the congress in which the vice president will preside over.
Reacting via a tweet on Tuesday, Trump said: “The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors.”
The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2021
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However, 11 Republican Senators led by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas have vowed to reject electors from “disputed states” when the congress meets on Wednesday.
The January 6 session is supposed to be a formal exercise to confirm the victory of Biden and set the pace for the January 20 inauguration but with Trump’s refusal to concede, it will be a fight to finish.
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