US Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), has filed suit against Vice President Mike Pence that seeks to legally obligate Pence to closely follow the Constitution on January 6.
According to the lawsuit, Pence has a constitutional duty as President of the Senate – a role automatically bestowed on him as Vice President of the United States – to tally all 50 states Electoral College votes in the upcoming January 6, 2021, joint session of Congress.
Gohmert’s lawsuit asks a federal court to make invalid for the purposes of the 2020 General; Election the 1887 Electoral Count Act, which prescribes “safe harbor” procedures for states to submit and certify their Electoral College votes.
The lawsuit contends that the “safe harbor” practices were violated in each of the contested states – Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Arizona – and that because of that the court should grant Pence the authority to either seat alternative slates of electors advanced from the states, or invalidate those slates, thus sending the election to the US House of Representatives.
Gohmert’s lawsuit states that any action taken by Pence on January 6, 2021, to certify the Electoral College results from the states in question; votes that would secure the presidency for Joe Biden, will be fraudulent.
The Congressman’s lawsuit also asking Judge Jeremy Kernodle, a Trump appointee, to rule in a reaffirmation of the Constitution that Pence is authorized to pick alternate slates of electors who cast votes for Trump during the Joint Session of Congress.
“Vice-President Pence determines which slate of electors’ votes count, or neither, for that State,” the suit states. “If no candidate has a majority of 270 elector votes, then the House of Representatives (and only the House of Representatives) shall choose the President.”
Gohmert’s motion cites the 12th Amendment of the US Constitution which “contains the exclusive dispute resolution mechanisms” over elections.
Republican Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert and a group of other GOP figures filed a lawsuit against Vice President Mike Pence in an effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Read more here: https://t.co/jhtkyvZ3ML
— Henry Rodgers (@henryrodgersdc) December 28, 2020
The lawsuit requests that the court render a judgment on whether “Vice President Pence, in his capacity as President of Senate and Presiding Officer of the January 6, 2021, Joint Session of Congress under the Twelfth Amendment, is subject solely to the requirements of the Twelfth Amendment and may exercise the exclusive authority and sole discretion in determining which electoral votes to count for a given State, and must ignore and may not rely on any provisions of the Electoral Count Act that would limit his exclusive authority and his sole discretion to determine the count, which could include votes from the slates of Republican electors from the Contested States.”
Gohmert has indicated that he will join US Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), Republican-led effort to challenge the Electoral College vote-count during the Joint Session.
Should the effort led by Brooks result in a contingent election, the House of Representative will vote as quorums between states, meaning the additional Representatives afforded to large population states like California and New York will not matter, and each state will be given one vote.