Republicans attempt to disrupt Electoral College process in states Biden won
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
All the states President-elect Joe Biden tightly won in the 2020 election have cast their electoral votes for him — but not without Republicans trying to disrupt the process.
Electoral College voters in every state cast their ballots on Monday to certify Biden's win, putting an end to GOP-stoked doubts about the legitimacy of the 2020 results. But in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, all of which Biden won, Republicans claiming to be electors cast their own votes for President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence anyway.
In Arizona last week, a group called "AZ Protect the Vote" decided to select its own slate of 11 voters and told the National Archives in Washington, D.C. to expect the state to vote for Trump and Pence. The group produced notarized documents supposedly certifying the vote for Trump and sent it over, even though Biden handily won the state, The Arizona Republic reports. On Monday, Arizona's 11 Democratic electors actually cast their votes, and will send them to Congress next week for an official count.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Georgia Republicans tried a similar scheme Monday, meeting at the Capitol at the same time as the state's Democratic electors to select a slate of electors to cast votes for Trump. Groups of self-appointed electors in Pennsylvania and Nevada also cast meaningless votes of their own, claiming legal challenges could still tip the vote in Trump's favor. Michigan Republicans who tried to cast votes meanwhile were blocked from entering the capitol building.
Trump and his supporters have waged several lawsuits challenging votes across the U.S. But as of Monday, all of Trump's biggest suits were finished, and he lost nearly all of them.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
‘My donation felt like a rejection of the day’s politics’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump wants a weaker dollar but economists aren’t so sureTalking Points A weaker dollar can make imports more expensive but also boost gold
-
Political cartoons for February 3Cartoons Tuesday’s political cartoons include empty seats, the worst of the worst of bunnies, and more
-
EU and India clinch trade pact amid US tariff warSpeed Read The agreement will slash tariffs on most goods over the next decade
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Maduro pleads not guilty in first US court hearingSpeed Read Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to cocaine trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracy
