North Carolina lawmakers plan to object to presidential election results in Congress

(The Center Square) – U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson is the latest North Carolina congressman who plans to object to the certification of the Electoral College votes by Congress this week.

Hudson, who was reelected to represent the 8th Congressional District in November, joins the growing list of federal lawmakers who have vowed to object to President-elect Joe Biden’s win over President Donald Trump. U.S. Reps. Ted Budd and Madison Cawthorn also said they would object to the results.

Hudson said there were incidents of fraud and voting irregularities in multiple states and election laws were changed before the race, which is a violation of the U.S. 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,” said Hudson, who also made allegations of bias and censorship by social media and tech companies.

Congress will meet in a joint session Wednesday to count the Electoral College votes. According to the Congressional Research Service, an objection to the results can be made once one member of the House and one senator agrees in writing. So far, about dozen U.S. senators have said they will object.

The Electoral College voted in December to finalize Biden’s 306-232 victory. Trump and his allies continuously have made claims of voter fraud coupled with legal action in several states. The courts have struck down numerous lawsuits. The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 11 rejected the state of Texas’ lawsuit seeking to overturn the presidential election results in four key swing states.

Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr said before leaving the position the U.S. Justice Department had not found any evidence of widespread voter fraud that could change the election outcome. Hudson and Cawthorn were among 120 Republicans who supported Texas’ lawsuit.

Cawthorn said state laws were violated in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada and Wisconsin, where Biden secured the Electoral College vote. Trump defeated Biden in North Carolina by more than 74,000 votes.

When an objection is made, each chamber of Congress must meet separately to decide whether to count the votes that are being questioned. Both chambers must agree to the objection by a simple majority vote. If the objection fails, then the joint session will reconvene and the votes will be counted. This has happened twice since the enactment of the 1887 law, according to the Congressional Research Service. At least 140 House members plan to object to the results, according to several reports.

“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,” Hudson said. “However, I am fighting to preserve the process that makes their disagreement with me possible in the first place.”

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