If the VP only has one sealed envelope from any given state, there's no question about which one gets counted.
Other sets of electors can be sent from any given state. In 2020, only one of them was properly sealed by a person authorized to act on behalf of the state in question. This is why it was of utmost importance for someone else in a position of authority in a contested state to inform Congress about a disputed slate of electors. That could have been done by a governor, a secretary of state (if duly authorized to act on behalf of the state), or -- better yet -- a formal act of the state legislature. NONE OF THIS EVER HAPPENED.
Sen. Tom Cotton's public statement about why he would not support any objections to the certified electors on January 6th was very instructive in this regard. He made it clear that he would have had no problem objecting to the electors from another state, but only if someone acting in an official capacity on behalf of the state notified Congress of a disputed slate of electors.
He closed his statement with a warning: If objections like this in the joint session of Congress become routine, then the U.S. would become a de facto parliamentary government where the President is elected by Congress.
I”m gonna think about this.
I don’t think this is right. Clearly the veep has the right to reject any slate handed to him (1796, 1800). Again, no succeeding legislation has changed this.
Clearly there were AUTHORIZED slates in 1876 that were completely rejected, despite being “certified” by “someone in a position of authority.” So that part is totally invalid.