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LWVUS Statement on the Certification of the Presidential Election

LWVUS | Published on 1/4/2021

LWVUS Statement on the Certification of the Presidential Election

 

1/4/2021
WASHINGTON – Today the League of Women Voters of the United States CEO Virginia Kase issued the following statement ahead of this week’s joint session of Congress to count and certify the Electoral College votes:  

“This week, Congress will count the Electoral College votes as required by the Constitution and affirm Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States. Any objection to this process is simply political theater which directly mocks and defies our Constitution. Still, these actions will not change the legally proven result of the 2020 election.  

“In November, the American people turned out in record numbers to elect the next president of the United States and the Electoral College confirmed the peoples will last month. The electors from each state have certified their results, and the role of Congress this week is to confirm that the votes sent are the ones the electors certified. Congress has no legal ability to change those results. 

“While the League believes the Electoral College should be abolished, it is our current system for electing the next president. All elected officials must respect our democracy, accept the outcome of the election, and affirm the will of the people.” 

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Contact: Sarah Courtney | 202-263-1332 | scourtney@lwv.org



The Electoral Count Act & The Process of Electing a President (click to view document)
From the National Task Force on Election Crisis

The Electoral Count Act of 1887 (ECA) provides the primary legal framework for casting and counting electoral votes for president and vice president in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution. In addition to setting a timeline for selecting electors and transmitting their votes to Congress, the ECA establishes certain dispute-resolution procedures for the counting process in Congress—including when Congress receives competing slates of electoral votes from the same state. Together with the Twelfth Amendment, the ECA also sets out the limited, ministerial role that the vice president, as the President of the Senate, plays in counting the electoral votes.  



See Interview with LWVUS Virginia Kase gave to ELLE Magazine about the Electoral College

See Blog post about shortcomings and reasons the LWV support abolishing the Electoral College



On Wednesday, the U.S. House and Senate will meet in a joint session of Congress to count electoral votes, as directed by the Electoral Count Act of our Constitution.