SC congressman says he’ll object to the Electoral College certifying Biden’s victory
South Carolina’s U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan said Wednesday he plans to join other Republicans and formally object to the Electoral College’s certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory when the House returns Jan. 6.
Specifically, the Laurens Republican said he will join Republican colleague U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, of Missouri, to object certification from Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — all battleground states that elected Biden.
“I swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States as a member of Congress, and with that oath comes the vital role of ensuring the legality and integrity of our free and fair election system,” Duncan said in a statement Wednesday. “The 2020 election saw unprecedented institutional issues like states changing their voting systems in violation of their state constitutions, unelected bureaucrats changing election law instead of lawmakers themselves, poll watchers prohibited from doing their jobs, failure to properly scrutinize the validity of mail-in voting, and the list goes on.”
Duncan — whose district includes parts of the Upstate and McCormick, Saluda, Edgefield and Newberry counties — said the country also needs to “shed light on the issues that took place during the 2020 election to preserve our electoral system for generations to come.” He demanded all “illegal” votes get thrown out and called for investigations into all accusations of voter irregularity.
President Donald Trump and his Republican allies maintained that massive voter fraud, particularly around mail-in voting, happened in November. However, there has been no evidence to suggest that.
States, including South Carolina, expanded mail-in voting in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump’s now former attorney general, William Barr, said this month the Department of Justice had uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could have swayed the election results. And multiple court challenges — at least 59 — from Trump’s campaign and his allies also have been denied.
Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, warned his Senate colleagues earlier this month not to dispute the Electoral College certification. Doing so could trigger a vote, where Republicans would publicly have to sound off on whether they believe the unproven allegations of voter fraud.
That vote, along with a debate, has now been triggered in both chambers by Hawley and Duncan.
A simple majority will be needed in both the House and Senate for the objection to be upheld.
“I cannot vote to certify the Electoral College results on Jan. 6 without raising the fact that some states, particularly Pennsylvania, failed to follow their own state election laws,” Hawley said in a statement Wednesday.
Still, Biden’s win is likely to be upheld as Democrats hold a majority in the House and a number of Senate Republicans have acknowledged Biden’s win publicly.
This story was originally published December 30, 2020 at 1:09 PM.
