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The rules were passed without recorded votes.\u00a0Instead, a voice vote was used in both chambers.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0guidance<\/a>, introduced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), says\u00a0the chambers will meet in a\u00a0joint session<\/a>\u00a0on Jan. 6 presided over by Vice President Mike Pence.<\/strong><\/p>\n Pence, as president of the Senate, will open \u201call the certificates and papers purporting to be certificates of the electoral votes,\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0the rules state, a nod to how seven states sent so-called\u00a0competing electors<\/a>, or certificates for both Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, to Washington.<\/p>\n The certificates and papers will be opened, presented, and acted upon in alphabetical order, starting with Alabama.<\/p>\n This is when dozens of Republicans\u201450 representatives and 12 senators, according to an Epoch Times tally\u2014are planning to object to some certificates, alleging election irregularities including voter fraud and failure to follow state election laws.<\/strong><\/p>\n That will trigger a withdrawal from the joint session and a two-hour debate, followed by votes in each chamber.<\/strong>\u00a0Only with a majority vote from both the House and the Senate would a challenge be upheld, which even supporters find unlikely, considering Democrats who control the House and Senate Republican leadership, including McConnell, have expressed disapproval with the plan to object.<\/p>\n House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a letter to colleagues on Sunday noted that objections can happen but said, at the end of the day, Biden \u201cwill be officially declared the next president.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cOn Monday, we will have a clearer picture of how many state votes will be subject to an objection. Our choice is not to use the forum to debate the presidency of Donald Trump,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Reps.\u00a0Ron Estes (R-Kan.), Tracey Mann (R-Kan.), and Jacob LaTurner (R-Kan.) said Sunday they will join in the objections, saying in a statement that several states are \u201cfacing serious allegations of voter fraud and violations of their own state law.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis action is not taken lightly and comes after extensive study and research. Kansans deserve to know that all legal, and only legal, votes were counted.<\/strong>\u00a0We hope our actions begin to restore the confidence of tens of millions of our fellow Americans that feel their sacred right to vote is under attack,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n Reps.\u00a0Jim Jordan<\/a>\u00a0(R-Ohio) and Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) also announced Sunday they\u2019ll object.<\/p>\n But seven Republican representatives, including several strong Trump supporters, said they will not join in the effort, and denounced the move.<\/p>\n \u201cOf the six states as to which questions have been raised, five have legislatures that are controlled by Republicans, and they all have the power to send a new slate of electoral votes to Congress if they deem such action appropriate under state law. Unless that happens between now and Jan. 6, 2021, Congress will have no authority to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election,\u201d the group\u00a0wrote in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cTo take action otherwise\u2014that is, to unconstitutionally insert Congress into the center of the presidential election process\u2014would amount to stealing power from the people and the states. It would, in effect, replace the Electoral College with Congress, and in so doing strengthen the efforts of those on the left who are determined to eliminate it or render it irrelevant.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n The weekend saw a flurry of action, with 11 senators following Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) in announcing they\u2019d join in the objections unless Congress appoints\u00a0a commission<\/a>\u00a0to examine alleged election irregularities. The idea is modeled on the panel formed in 1877 amid a contested election.<\/p>\n Hawley\u2019s Dec. 30 announcement triggered a number of House members to announce their intention to object. The number planning to do so has more than doubled since then.<\/p>\n A segment of Republicans are focusing on Pence\u2019s role in the proceedings. They sued the vice president and asked a court to rule he has the \u201cexclusive authority\u201d to decide between dueling electors.<\/p>\n A judge\u00a0dismissed the case<\/a>\u00a0and an appeals court\u00a0rejected an appeal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pence had asked the court to dismiss the suit but said through a spokesman on Saturday that he supports efforts to challenge electoral votes.<\/p>\n \u201cVice President Pence shares the concerns of millions of Americans about voter fraud and irregularities in the last election<\/strong>,\u201d Pence\u2019s chief of staff, Marc Short, said in the statement sent to media outlets.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_mobile\/public\/inline-images\/rep-hudson-1200x800.jpg?itok=mZPhaM3h\")