Fact check of objections Republican lawmakers may raise during Electoral College count
When the vice president of the United States presides over the counting of the Electoral College votes and announces the final tally and winner of the election, it's usually little more than a formality. But this year, President Trump's refusal to accept his loss to Joe Biden — and the willingness of many Republican lawmakers to indulge him — has teed up a tense day in the Capitol.
It's Vice President Mike Pence who's tasked with this duty on Wednesday for the pro forma joint session of Congress. Tellers will read each state's tally aloud, and at any point, members may object to that state's votes. It takes one senator and one House member to trigger consideration of an objection. The Senate and the House then debate the objection separately and vote on whether to accept the state's ballots.
Here are some of the claims viewers may anticipate — and whether they stand up to scrutiny.
Claim: Some states "failed to follow their own state election laws" — GOP Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri
Fact check: This has been argued in lawsuits that have been denied by numerous state and federal courts.
Hawley was the first senator to announce his intention to object to the electoral vote count. He was soon followed by Senator Ted Cruz and a group of 10 other senators who are also threatening to reject the outcome of the election.
"I cannot vote to certify the electoral college results on January 6 without raising the fact that some states, particularly Pennsylvania, failed to follow their own state election laws," Hawley said in a statement.
In November, a Trump-appointed judge rejected a Trump campaign lawsuit that claimed Pennsylvania's secretary of state and some counties restricted poll watchers and allowed voters to fix technical issues with mail-in ballots.
"The campaign's claims have no merit," wrote Judge Stephanos Bibas in his decision. "The number of ballots it specifically challenges is far smaller than the roughly 81,000-vote margin of victory. And it never claims fraud or that any votes were cast by illegal voters."
Critics of Pennsylvania's election process also contended that Pennsylvania's GOP-controlled legislature didn't follow the proper procedures in extending absentee voting to all residents. In late November, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit brought by Republicans that sought to invalidate all no-excuse mail ballots in the state. In December, the a request from Republican allies of President Trump to decertify Pennsylvania's election results.
Claim: "Mega corporations, including Facebook and Twitter" interfered in the election — GOP Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri
Fact check: Charge lacks context.
The Missouri Republican also claimed big social media companies interfered in the 2020 presidential election.
"I cannot vote to certify without pointing out the unprecedented effort of mega corporations, including Facebook and Twitter, to interfere in this election, in support of Joe Biden," his statement reads. "At the very least, Congress should investigate allegations of voter fraud and adopt measures to secure the integrity of our elections. But Congress has so far failed to act."
Twitter has labeled the president's tweets as disputed, but has not deleted the president's tweets. On Facebook, the posts that perform the best each day are consistently mostly those from conservative websites. Mr. Trump himself often has some of the most-viewed posts on the Internet.
But social media companies have the right to label posts, as Twitter and Facebook have done for Mr. Trump's posts.
Hawley has not been specific about his charges against Facebook and Twitter. But as far as election integrity goes, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which is charged with election security, declared that the 2020 presidential election had been "the most secure in American history," and stated, "There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised."
"While we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections, we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too," CISA's statement concluded.
Claim: Some states' results are still "disputed" — GOP Senator Ted Cruz, of Texas, and other Republican senators
Fact check: False. States have certified their results.
Cruz's group, which is working separately from Hawley, has called for a 10-day audit of states that it says are still disputed.
"We intend to vote on January 6 to reject the electors from disputed states as not 'regularly given' and 'lawfully certified' (the statutory requisite), unless and until that emergency 10-day audit is completed," the group said in a statement.
"Congress should immediately appoint an Electoral Commission, with full investigatory and fact-finding authority, to conduct an emergency 10-day audit of the election returns in the disputed states," reads the statement. "Once completed, individual states would evaluate the Commission's findings and could convene a special legislative session to certify a change in their vote, if needed."
The senators say they are trying to "restore faith in our democracy," due to claims of voter fraud. But all of the states have certified their election results, so they are not disputed.
Mr. Trump's legal team has not been able to provide evidence of voter fraud in numerous lawsuits challenging the election results, and has exhausted its timeframe to challenge the election.
Claim: Voting machines were tampered with. Dominion Voting Systems voting software company "moved the inner parts of the machines and replaced them with other parts." — President Trump
Fact check: False
The president reiterated a conspiracy theory about Dominion Voting Systems on a call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger over the weekend, alleging that the voting software company "moved the inner parts of the machines and replaced them with other parts."
A Dominion spokesperson said in a statement provided to CBS News in November that the company "categorically denies any claims about any vote switching or alleged software issues with our voting systems." Election authorities have publicly affirmed the company's statement. And this week, top Georgia election official Gabriel Sterling, who is charged with the implementation of Georgia's voting systems, called the claim "not real."
"No one is changing parts of pieces out of Dominion voting machines. That's — I don't even know what that means, it's not a real thing. That's not happening. The president mentioned it on the call. ... That's, again, not real," Sterling said during a press conference dismantling numerous claims.
"This is all easily, provably false. Yet the president persists," Sterling said, adding that such claims "undermine" faith in the voting system — the same system being used in Georgia's crucial Senate runoff elections.
Claim: "The vice president has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors." — President Trump
Fact check: False
Beyond the charges that Republicans will be raising, President Trump is also arguing that Vice President Pence can make his own decisions about the electors. On Tuesday, he tweeted that the "vice president has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors." He made the claim after telling supporters at a Georgia rally Monday that he hopes Pence "comes through for us" on the Electoral College tally.
But the vice president does not have the power to reject any state's electors. The vice president only has the power to "preserve order" in the joint session and preside over it as the president of the Senate. The results will be delivered to the vice president, who is the president of the Senate, but he does not have the power to reject electors or change the outcome of the Electoral College count.
Mr. Trump is expecting something of Pence that the vice president lacks the authority to execute.