GOP Pa. congressman says he would object to election results even if Trump won
The U.S. congressman for Franklin and its neighboring Pennsylvania counties says he would object to certifying the results of the presidential election even if Donald Trump had won a second term.
"Absolutely. This is about free and fair elections," Rep. John Joyce said by phone on Tuesday, one day before both houses of Congress were scheduled to meet to count the votes of the Electoral College. President-elect Joe Biden won 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232.
Joyce, a Trump loyalist who is beginning his second term in the House of Representatives, is among the more than 100 Republican members of Congress whose stated intentions to object to certifying the election results have put a spotlight on a normally ceremonial procedure.
He and other congressional members from Pennsylvania put out a joint statement accusing Gov. Tom Wolf and the secretary of state of acting unlawfully with the support of the state Supreme Court to circumvent constitutional authority. Joyce claims state leaders "(took) advantage of COVID" to disregard the state's constitution.
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He alleges that changes made to encourage mail-in voting amid the pandemic hurt election security.
These "irregularities," primarily in the heavily Democratic southeastern area of the state, "diluted" the votes of local residents, Joyce claims. He said he's received emails, calls and even handwritten notes from local people who feel their votes have been stolen.
Trump's legal team has not produced evidence to supports its claim that election fraud was widespread in Pennsylvania, according to USA TODAY.
While ballots counted on election night generally favored Trump, Biden took the lead in Pennsylvania and other critical states as mail-in votes were counted in the following hours and days.
Even in heavily Republican Franklin County, where Trump won almost 71% of the total vote, more than 60% of mail-in ballots went to Biden.
"I think you're going to see not only the majority of Republicans from Pennsylvania in the House but scores of other legislators sign on" to fight the certification of the commonwealth's electoral votes, Joyce said Tuesday.
Trump and his legal team have been working to change the election results since Biden became the apparent winner. Unless far more legislators object Wednesday, the effort will fail.
Amber South can be reached at asouth@publicopinionnews.com.