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Press Release

Lawmaker Objections to Election Certification Are an Affront to Our Democracy

In planning to challenge the election of Joe Biden as the next president, at least a dozen members of Congress are abdicating their duty to protect and respect free and fair elections in our country.

Media Contacts:Danielle Brian, Executive Director at the Project On Government Oversight (POGO); or Caitlin MacNeal, Communications Manager at POGO, [email protected].

(WASHINGTON)—In response to a group of Republican lawmakers’ plan to reject electors from several states this week, Project On Government Oversight Executive Director Danielle Brian issued the following statement:

“In planning to reject the presidential electors from several states and to challenge the election of Joe Biden as the next president, at least a dozen members of Congress are abdicating their duty to protect and respect free and fair elections in our country.

“After several recounts and court rulings, it’s undeniably clear that fraud did not affect the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. As President Donald Trump’s stunning and legally dubious phone call to the Georgia secretary of state begging him to “find” votes exemplifies, claims of wrongdoing and irregularities are not rooted in fact, or even a desire to ensure a fair election process. They are part of a craven political effort to overturn legitimate election results, and in the congressional lawmakers’ case, to demonstrate fealty to Trump over the Constitution.

“The continued attempts to challenge the election results in areas like Fulton County, Georgia, and Wayne County, Michigan, are also part of an attempt to disenfranchise people of color. In lawsuits challenging the election results, Trump and his allies singled out areas with large Black populations and have refused to accept the votes cast there. Yet they have largely ignored majority-white areas and districts that voted for Trump. This cherry-picking makes it clear this is a concerted effort to discount the votes of people of color.

“This disdain for our system of elections threatens the fabric of our democracy and could inflict lasting damage. By joining a baseless effort to object to the results of this presidential election, members of Congress are pushing to overturn the voice of the American people and are pushing to claim the power to choose the president themselves. This goes against the very core of democratic governance—the ability of the people to elect our leaders and hold them accountable. If these lawmakers go through with their pledge to object to the election, they will be consigning themselves to a dark place in our history.

“The president and his legal team have had more than enough time to present any credible evidence they may possess of voter fraud that would impact the outcome of the election, and they have failed spectacularly to do so. Leaders on both sides of the aisle must unequivocally denounce this latest effort to sow self-serving but baseless doubt in the 2020 election results. We must defend our democracy and the free elections on which it depends.”

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Founded in 1981, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is a nonpartisan independent watchdog that investigates and exposes waste, corruption, abuse of power, and when the government fails to serve the public or silences those who report wrongdoing.

We champion reforms to achieve a more effective, ethical, and accountable federal government that safeguards constitutional principles.