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U.S. Code § 15 - Counting electoral votes in Congress
Legal Information Institute, Cornell University ^ | June 25, 1948 | U.S.Code

Posted on 12/25/2020 12:10:39 PM PST by aspasia

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1 posted on 12/25/2020 12:10:39 PM PST by aspasia
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To: aspasia
I've been thinking about this ever since it was brought to my attention.

It seems so ... and perhaps TOO ... easy.

I don't trust politicians anymore.

So I've considered a couple of blind sides.

The one that has been successful in the past has been ... the democrats just walk out.

Everything in the above speaks to Congress being present as in a quorum.

But there is no definition as to such.


Does anyone have an opinion or insight into this ?

2 posted on 12/25/2020 12:16:19 PM PST by knarf (The Constitution protects the right to peaceably assemble, not to protest)
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To: knarf

There’s an act I believe from 1887 that requires the VP to go with whatever result was certified by the governor of a disputed state but unclear that’s a constitutional act or what if the VP ignored it.

Bigger worry are the spineless paid off RINOs.


3 posted on 12/25/2020 12:27:14 PM PST by TigerClaws
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To: aspasia

The Libs have been thinking about this for some time wonder why. Here is a quote from Daily Poster.

“Let’s imagine that these five (Biden states with Republican) state legislatures do appoint another slate of electors. And let’s imagine that the slates of electors cast their ballots on December 14th and they send their certified results to Mike Pence and Pence opens them on January 6th and begins to process them…

The Arizona slate gets opened up, and there’s one slate that purports to be for Joe Biden, and another slate that purports to be for Donald Trump. Now, this turns out to be really important. Arizona has a Republican governor. So imagine the Republican governor signs the slate for Donald Trump...

Under the rules for counting electoral votes, the vice president could say, I’ve got two slates here, I’m going to recognize the slate signed by the Republican governor. There would be an objection. And if there’s an objection that’s signed by both a senator and a member of the House of Representatives, then the two bodies would separate, the senators would walk back over into the Senate, and they would decide whether they’re going to uphold the objection or reject it.

Now we can imagine that the Democratic House will vote to uphold the objection. They’ll say that Biden’s slate should be counted. Then the question is whether the Republican Senate votes to reject the objection. So let’s start with the most partisan assumption — let’s assume all the Republicans hang together. That means that the houses have disagreed about which slate should be counted. And if the houses disagree about which slate should be counted, under the rules for counting the slate of electors, it’s the slate of electors signed by the governor that gets counted. So that means it would be the Republican slate that gets counted.

But here’s why that would be a very stupid move for the Republicans to make. Because of the five states that this game could be played in, three states have Democratic governors and only two states have Republican governors, Arizona, and Georgia. So that means if they counted the slates that the governors of count have assigned, Joe Biden would still have enough votes in the electoral college, because he would have Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, and that would put him over 270. So that’s not what they would do if they’re going to play this game.

Instead, what they would do if they’re going to play this game, is that the houses would separate, the Republican Senate would vote to affirm the Republican slate of electors, the Democratic house would vote to affirm the Democratic slate of electors. That means that both houses have not voted to reject the move by the vice president to count the Republican slates. And if they don’t reject the move by the vice president to count the Republican slate, the Republican slate gets counted. And so what that means is, if the houses disagree, Mike Pence’s ruling stands and Mike Pence’s ruling would be, on the assumption we’re making, would be for the Republican slate in all five of those cases. And he would therefore count Donald Trump and himself into the presidency.

If voters want to call their elected officials to ensure that the popular vote in their state is respected, which politicians should they be pressuring?

We are launching a petition on our website at XXXXXX.us. that calls on Republican senators to affirm that they are not going to vote against the vote of the people in any of these states.

What is the actual vote you are asking those senators to commit to casting?

So again, the scenario we’re imagining is Arizona comes up, and there’s a Republican slate signed by the governor and the Democratic slate that is in accord with the certification of the secretary of state in Arizona. And Mike Pence says, I believe the Constitution gives the Republican legislature the power to appoint their electors however they want, because I’ve read the words of the great constitutional scholar, Mark Levin, and that’s what he has said. Immediately there’s an objection filed to the ruling of the chair and each body that has to decide how it’s going to vote on the objection.

And what the objection is saying is no, you can’t recognize the Republican slate. You have to recognize the Democratic slate, the Democratic House will vote to say, we agree with the objection and the Republican Senate will have to vote to decide whether it’s going to agree with the objection.

So five Republican senators would have to vote with the Democrats in the Senate to say that they believe that the objection should be sustained…”

Important call your senator to support President Trump.


4 posted on 12/25/2020 12:49:25 PM PST by MagillaX (My)
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To: knarf

Sent e mails to both my senators asking them to demand an audit of votes, machines and software,so the truth can come out.

E Mail you senators and congress people and demand the truth !!


5 posted on 12/25/2020 12:49:42 PM PST by Pearfect
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To: MagillaX
There's no provision I can see for a counter protest
6 posted on 12/25/2020 1:05:56 PM PST by knarf (The Constitution protects the right to peaceably assemble, not to protest)
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To: knarf
The one that has been successful in the past has been ... the democrats just walk out.

Why would they do that? If they walk out then any challenge wins. They aren't going to do that.

7 posted on 12/25/2020 1:24:35 PM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: TigerClaws
There’s an act I believe from 1887 that requires the VP to go with whatever result was certified by the governor of a disputed state but unclear that’s a constitutional act or what if the VP ignored it.

All Congress is doing is counting the votes submitted from the Electoral College. Pence has no role and no powers other than moderating the activities. He doesn't approve. He doesn't dispute. He doesn't vote. He counts.

8 posted on 12/25/2020 1:26:09 PM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: knarf

Bkmk count


9 posted on 12/25/2020 1:26:10 PM PST by ptsal (Vote R.E.D. >>>Remove Every Democrat ***)
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To: MagillaX
"So imagine the Republican governor signs the slate for Donald Trump...",

We're already past that point. None of the governors have signed a certification for an alternative slate of electors.

10 posted on 12/25/2020 1:29:32 PM PST by mlo
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To: TigerClaws
There’s an act I believe from 1887 that requires the VP to go with whatever result was certified by the governor of a disputed state but unclear that’s a constitutional act or what if the VP ignored it.

It's in the above statute.

But if the two Houses shall disagree in respect of the counting of such votes, then, and in that case, the votes of the electors whose appointment shall have been certified by the executive of the State, under the seal thereof, shall be counted.

Unless both the House and the Senate vote to reject a state's certified block of Electors, they will be counted. If there are conflicting sets of Electors from a state, if the House and the Senate cannot agree on which set to accept, the set of Electors certified by the state's governor is automatically accepted.

The Constitution states that the Legislature will determine how the Electoral votes are counted, and this statute is the Legislature's decision on how to count Electoral votes.

11 posted on 12/25/2020 1:29:56 PM PST by Yo-Yo (is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: MagillaX
That means that the houses have disagreed about which slate should be counted. And if the houses disagree about which slate should be counted, under the rules for counting the slate of electors, it’s the slate of electors signed by the governor that gets counted. So that means it would be the Republican slate that gets counted.

No, in all of the contested states where competing slates of Electors were submitted, the Governor of the state, be s/he Republican or Democrat, have in every single case certified the Biden slate of Electors. If the two houses do not agree which slate to count, the Biden Electors will be chosen by default.

12 posted on 12/25/2020 1:36:11 PM PST by Yo-Yo (is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: Yo-Yo

Very questionable whether the Electoral Count Act is constitutional. The Constitution specifies that the state legislature has plenary power to award electors, yet the Act specifies that the governor is deemed superior to the state legislature if there is a dispute. Seems unconstitutional to me.


13 posted on 12/25/2020 2:12:19 PM PST by mrs9x
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To: mrs9x
Very questionable whether the Electoral Count Act is constitutional. The Constitution specifies that the state legislature has plenary power to award electors, yet the Act specifies that the governor is deemed superior to the state legislature if there is a dispute. Seems unconstitutional to me.

Yes, the Constitution specifies that the state legislatures have plenary power to award electors, and each state legislature has through statute created schemes whereby Electors are chosen by popular vote. Each state, again by statute, has designated the Governor as the person to certify the slate of Electors and to transmit the results to Congress.

So the Constitution designates the state legislatures with appointing Electors, and the state legislatures have enacted statutes directing how those Electors are to be chosen.

The Electoral Count Act is the U.S. legislature designating how Electoral vote results are to be tallied, and how to resolve disagreements.

14 posted on 12/25/2020 2:21:51 PM PST by Yo-Yo (is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: Yo-Yo

But, wasn’t it argued by Pres lawyers that the legislatures can take that power back any time they want to? The state statutes cannot have precedence over the constitution. Also I believe Prof John Eastman said the same thing.


15 posted on 12/25/2020 3:13:08 PM PST by GrandmaPatriot
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To: mrs9x
The Constitution specifies that the state legislature has plenary power to award electors, yet the Act specifies that the governor is deemed superior to the state legislature if there is a dispute. Seems unconstitutional to me.

The Constitution says that each state will appoint electors "in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct". If the states choose to allow the voters to award electors then there's nothing unconstitutional in that. And nothing unconstitutional about states having local officials certifying elections, either. Constitutionally states determine how the elections are managed.

16 posted on 12/25/2020 3:19:30 PM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: GrandmaPatriot
But, wasn’t it argued by Pres lawyers that the legislatures can take that power back any time they want to?

Whether or not they can do that after the election and after the electors have been awarded under current law would likely be something the courts would have to determine.

17 posted on 12/25/2020 3:20:48 PM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: aspasia

why is it we can jump thru hoops, early voting, drop boxes, extended counting, mail in’s, etc. in the name of ‘pandemic’.

But we can’t delay the electoral college process until after investigations are complete?


18 posted on 12/25/2020 3:54:28 PM PST by blueplum ("...this moment is your moment: it belongs to you... " President Donald J. Trump, Jan 20, 2017) )
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To: blueplum

“why is it we can jump thru hoops, early voting, drop boxes, extended counting, mail in’s, etc. in the name of ‘pandemic’.

But we can’t delay the electoral college process until after investigations are complete?”

It would take an act of Congress and that’s not going to happen.


19 posted on 12/25/2020 4:11:34 PM PST by Armscor38
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To: GrandmaPatriot
But, wasn’t it argued by Pres lawyers that the legislatures can take that power back any time they want to?

Until they do, the statute stands. So far, none have.

20 posted on 12/25/2020 4:43:17 PM PST by Yo-Yo (is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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