A slate of 12 Republican Senators have announced they plan to mount objections to Electoral College votes cast from states where allegations of widespread election fraud have been made.
But how are objections to Electoral College votes made and how are they executed? While such occurrences are rare and Constitutional law on the matter is unsettled, a basic framework exists that will undoubtedly serve as a starting point for the action.
The U.S. Congress is set to meet in a joint session on Wednesday Jan. 6 to vote to accept Electoral College votes. It is only after such a vote that a president- and vice-president-elect are to be officially designated.
During the session the President of the Senate, which is the Vice-President of the United States (in this case Mike Pence), will be presented with the certification of each state and D.C. As he is presented with each certificate he will call for objections.
For an objection to be considered, it must be presented in writing and signed by at least one Senator and one Representative. Objections are not acted on by the joint-session. Instead, when an objection is received, the Senate withdraws from the House chamber and each house considers it separately.
Under current procedure, debate on objections in each house is limited to two hours. During which each Member may speak only once and for not more than five minutes. When debate has concluded the presiding officer of each house calls for a vote.
For an objection to be accepted each chamber must vote (by a simple majority) to accept it. Both houses must vote to agree to the objection. Otherwise, the objection fails and the electoral vote or votes are counted.
You can read more from the Congressional Research Service here.
Photo by Ted Eytan via Flickr