VP Mike Pence/YouTube
By Andrew Oxford | Arizona Republic
State GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward and other Arizona Republicans have joined a Texas congressman in suing the vice president of the U.S. to upend the process for counting electoral college votes in an effort to overturn the results of the presidential election.
The lawsuit filed by U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, states that the congressman plans to object to counting Arizona’s electoral college votes when Congress meets to tally results from around the country on Jan. 6.
But a 19th century law says such objections should be put to a vote of the Senate and House of Representatives.
The suit challenges several elements of that law, arguing in part that Vice President Mike Pence, presiding over the Senate, should wield sole discretion in counting the electoral college votes. That would allow him to count his campaign as winning a state it lost — such as Arizona.
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Joining Ward and the Texas congressman as plaintiffs in the lawsuit are, among others, state Representative-elect Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek; ousted state Rep. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale; Tyler Bowyer, a Republican National Committeeman; Arizona Republican Party Executive Director Greg Safsten; and Nancy Cottle, second vice-chair of the Maricopa County Republican Party.
