At least three area U.S. House Representatives plan to vote against certifying election results

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - At least three US House Representatives from the Charlotte area say they plan to object to the certification of the election of Joe Biden as President of the United States. Republicans Richard Hudson, Madison Cawthorn, and Ted Budd have all announced their intentions, citing what they say are widespread voting irregularities.

The Electoral College met in mid-December to certify Joe Biden’s 306-232 victory over President Donald Trump.

On Wednesday, the 117th Congress is set to meet to certify the electoral vote results of the 2020 election. The 12th Amendment of the Constitution requires the winning candidate to receive “a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed.”

So far, more than 100 Republicans in the House and Senate say they will object to the certification, including Ted Budd, a Republican representing the 13th District.

“These flagrant violations of state law, mixed with the massive late night mail-in ballot drops in key swing states, the corrupted election technology, illegal counting practices, dead voters, and mathematically impossible vote irregularities lead me to question the sanctity of our election results,” Budd said. “People have mis-framed this as overturning an election. It’s not overturning an election, this is all about shifting it to a debate to have further discussion on it.”

On Monday, Budd wrote a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, outlining his intention to object to the certification of the election.

“As you are aware, I along with dozens of my colleagues are planning to lodge formal objections to to the Electoral College count at the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021,” Budd wrote. “You said in early 2019 that one of the goals of the Democrats majority was to ‘restore faith in government, so that people can have confidence that government works for the people.’ I would submit that standing for election integrity would be a great place to start.”

Budd is joined by 8th District representative Richard Hudson, who, in a statement, said “The American people need to have confidence in the integrity of our election process. Currently, millions of people do not trust the outcome of this presidential election because there is incontrovertible evidence of voter irregularity — if not outright fraud — in multiple states. For these reasons, I believe it is my constitutional duty to object to certifying the Electoral College votes of certain states that violated their own election laws.”

“Furthermore, election laws were changed in numerous states contrary to Article II of the Constitution. These election changes included extending the deadline for mail-in ballots, adding unsecured drop box collection sites, and changes to signature verification measures- processes that are susceptible to increased fraud as spelled out by a bipartisan commission on election reform co-chaired by former President Jimmy Carter.”

“That is why I joined more than 120 colleagues on an amicus brief concerning an election lawsuit led by the state of Texas. Our brief recommended the Supreme Court take up the case and specifically look at these changes to state election laws. I believe the Court should have examined these changes and missed an opportunity to give confidence to the American people that the election was conducted legally and fairly. Unfortunately, by refusing to take up the case, the American people were denied their day in court and these questions remain.”

“Every American should want to ensure our election laws were followed correctly and investigate every case of alleged fraud, no matter how it would impact the outcome of the election.””

“I am also concerned about the impact big tech bias and censorship had on this election. From unprecedented suppression of information like the New York Post’s story on the Bidens’ financial ties to foreign governments, to arbitrary ‘flags’ on individual posts and ideas, big tech companies engaged in dangerous efforts to interfere in this election that must be addressed. The latest example is Facebook disabling the account of the Republican joint fundraising committee for the Georgia Senate special election.”

“For these reasons, I believe it is my Constitutional duty to object to certifying the Electoral College votes of certain states that violated their own election laws.”

“I know there are many who will disagree with my decision to object, and the hyper-partisan hysteria from some on the left and in the media is predictable. However, I am fighting to preserve the process that makes their disagreement with me possible in the first place. I believe these issues deserve a serious debate in the House and the Senate, just as Democrats did following the 2004 and 2016 presidential elections. In fact, now Speaker Nancy Pelosi said during the debate in 2005 that the objections were “democracy at work” and “fundamental to our democracy.”

“I agree. These issues are more important than one party, one candidate or one election outcome. It is my hope that through open debate, we can raise these legitimate concerns and identify common sense solutions to safeguard our election integrity.”

“I do not support a federal takeover of elections, as has been proposed by House Democrats. However, I do believe there could be minimum national standards on issues like voter ID, signature verification, the rights of election observers and general ballot security.”

“I want to be part of a bipartisan solution to restore transparency and faith in our election process. I remain committed to working across the aisle on these and other solutions, and look forward to all we can accomplish together as your representative in the 117th Congress.”

The lawsuit referred to with the amicus brief mentioned by Representative Hudson was thrown out by the Supreme Court on Dec. 11.

Newly elected representative Madison Cawthorn, a Republican representing District 11, released a video on Twitter stating his objections: “These flagrant violations of state law, mixed with the massive late night mail-in ballot drops in key swing states, the corrupted election technology, illegal counting practices, dead voters, and mathematically impossible vote irregularities lead me to question the sanctity of our election results.”

Representative Dan Bishop, the Republican representing District 9, has not publicly said how he will vote on certification, but was one of the 120 lawmakers to sign the amicus brief mentioned by Representative Hudson.

On Monday afternoon, North Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Wayne Goodwin released a statement after Budd, Cawthorn, Hudson, and David Rouzer (R-07), announced they would object to election results showing Joe Biden’s presidential victory: “This is a coordinated, brazen attack on our democracy from North Carolina Republicans Ted Budd, Madison Cawthorn, Richard Hudson, and David Rouzer, with silent complicity from Senator Tillis, that only serves to undermine trust in our democratic institutions and strikes at the very heart of the foundations of our country.

“Not a single one of these spineless, weak Republicans can point to widespread fraud. Instead, they’re meekly going along with their tails between their legs because they’re terrified of crossing a lame-duck president so desperate to cling onto power after losing an election that he’ll attack and bully election officials from his own party, spout unfounded claims of fraud, and seek to steal a free and fair election. President-elect Joe Biden will take office this month because the American people chose him in the most secure election of our lifetimes; no anti-democratic stunts from these weak Republicans will change that.”

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