Dozen senators plan to oppose Biden certification

WASHINGTON: A group of Republican senators led by veteran lawmaker Ted Cruz said on Saturday they would not vote next week to certify Joe Biden’s election win—the latest last-ditch move to support Donald Trump’s efforts to undermine the vote.

The initiative, which appears certain to fail, flies in the face of rulings in dozens of courts and the findings by officials in several key states, that there were no widespread voting problems.

The Republicans’ statement, signed by Cruz and six other current senators along with four senators-elect, asserts that “allegations of fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election exceed any in our lifetimes.”

The group said that when Congress convenes in a joint session on Wednesday —for what normally would be a pro-forma certification of Biden’s victory — they will demand the creation of a special commission to conduct an “emergency 10-day audit” of the election results.

The statement says individual states could then convene special legislative sessions and potentially revise their vote totals.

“An attempt to steal a landslide win. Can’t let it happen!” Trump tweeted Saturday.

Posting a list of the 11 senators, Trump added: “And after they see the facts, plenty more to come...Our Country will love them for it!”

They join Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, who said earlier that he planned to raise objections on Wednesday.

A Republican member of the House of Representatives, Louie Gohmert, has also announced his plan to oppose certification, and more than 100 House Republicans reportedly will back his challenge.

Gohmert sought to further raise the stakes with a lawsuit that would have given Vice President Mike Pence—traditionally in a ceremonial role in Wednesday’s session—the power to overturn the election result. Biden won in the all-important Electoral College by a vote of 306 to 232.