OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) – As Congress prepares to vote on certifying election results this week, there are a lot of questions surrounding the legitimacy of the election. However, it’s unlikely that any effort to de-certify votes will come to fruition.
“No state sent two certified sets of electors. So at least in legal terms, there’s really no decision to make. You just open up the certified election returns and you tally up the results,” said UW Oshkosh Political Science Professor Dr. David Siemers.
But even with that straightforward process in place, Siemers says there is speculation that Congress could be stepping into uncharted territory during the vote on Wednesday.
“There’s some thought that [Vice President] Mike Pence can refuse to open up the ballots, or that there are ballots that were cast by other people that had no legal force, and that he could bring them into the chamber,” Siemers explained. “It’s really, really far-fetched to believe any of that could happen. And even if Mike Pence would try to do something like that, it’s surely not going to work.”
There are also ‘Stop the Steal’ rallies planned for Wednesday in Washington D.C., but Siemers says those voices shouldn’t have an impact on what happens inside the chambers.
“They have every right to do that and to make their voice heard, using the First Amendment. It would be when things go beyond that that would be problematic,” Siemers told WTAQ News. “Politics is really, really important. Right? So it’s important who gets elected, but it’s also important to have a democracy where you understand that you can be outvoted and still live to fight another day.”
Meanwhile, Americans are set to get another $600 in stimulus funding. But bumping that to $2,000 is still a bit of a stretch. There hasn’t been a vote on raising the stimulus checks, and Siemers doesn’t think there will be as long as Republicans maintain control of the Senate.
“Any senator can say to the majority leader, ‘Hey, I don’t want this to be scheduled.’ And it’s really only the force of public opinion that would change that,” Siemers said. “Mitch McConnell is confident enough that not giving $2000 to individuals is not going to hurt him and the Republican Party. It’s really a pretty audacious position, especially given that it’s contrary to what the president wants and says he wants…The president shows that he has no clout over Mitch McConnell, and Mitch McConnell is acting independently here and he’s stopping this here on behalf of his caucus.”
Siemers believes if the extra stimulus funding were to come up for an up or down vote, that it would pass.
“So the reason to not hold a vote is to prevent that from happening,” Siemers said.
If Democrats win in Georgia’s run-off election on Tuesday, that could swing the Senate majority blue. And if that were to happen, things might begin to look different.
“If the Democrats get a majority in the Senate, they’ll start to pass extended benefits and that sort of thing. If the Republicans retain control of the Senate, that won’t happen,” Siemers said.
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