Some self-anointed “constitutional scholars,” say that the VP has no discretion in the Electoral College count, and that his role is primarily “ceremonial.” In other words, they claim the VP can count, and nothing else. That’s their opinion. But a quick search of the Constitution reveals no reference to the word “ceremonial.”
To the contrary, at least some evidence exists historically that the VP’s role is more than ceremonial. In the 1960 election, after a razor-thin back-and-forth between Nixon and Kennedy in Hawaii, Hawaii sent two competing sets of electors to Washington.
Upon receiving the competing slates, Vice President Nixon made a discretionary decision. Rather than freezing up, as Pence did, and claiming the Constitution didn’t allow him to act, Nixon opened envelopes from competing electors, then presented both sets of Hawaii’s electors to Congress, three for Kennedy and three for himself. He then moved that the Democrat slate be counted.
In other words, Nixon served as judge over the count, even though the Constitution did not specifically address the procedure Nixon followed. By the way, nobody prosecuted the alternate electors from Hawaii, under some concocted bizarre Jack Smith-like legal theory.