Half of Missouri’s Congressional delegation to raise Electoral College objections
(The Center Square) — Four of Missouri’s eight representatives in the U.S. House will object to certifying November electoral votes from several states during Wednesday’s Joint Congressional Session to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
In a joint statement issued Monday, Republican U.S. Reps. Sam Graves, Tarkio; Vicky Hartzler, Harrisonville; Billy Long, Springfield; and Jason Smith, Salem, said they will be among 140 GOP Congressional reps expected to raise objections to the election results at the behest of President Donald Trump.
“This isn’t going to change the outcome of the 2020 election, but it’s about standing up for the thousands of North Missourians and millions of Americans that have legitimate concerns about the integrity of the 2020 elections and every election from here on,” Graves said in a Facebook post.
During Wednesday ministerial certification process, Long in a statement explained, “the question will be put before your elected officials — does anyone object to the certification of electoral votes of a state? We will object. Our hope is that others will join us.”
Of Missouri’s four other congressional reps, Republicans Ann Wagner, Ballwin, and Blaine Luetkemeyer, St. Elizabeth, and Democrats Cori Bush, St. Louis County, and Emanuel Cleaver, Kansas City, did not sign the letter and are expected to affirm the vote.
“We don’t take this decision lightly, but we must protect the integrity of each vote cast by every law-abiding Missourian,” the joint letter reads. “For every instance of Georgia failing to follow its own state law in verifying signatures, of Pennsylvania accepting mail ballots after the legal deadline set by its state legislature, or folks from outside Nevada casting a ballot in that state — the value of every Missourians’ vote is diminished. That’s not right. And we cannot simply look the other way.”
Missouri’s first-term Republican Sen. Josh Hawley became the first U.S. senator to say he would raise objections to the results when he announced last week that he would challenge Pennsylvania’s tally during Wednesday joint session of Congress.
“I cannot vote to certify the electoral college results on January 6 without raising the fact that some states, particularly Pennsylvania, failed to follow their own state election laws,” Hawley said in a statement posted to Twitter. “And I cannot vote to certify without pointing out the unprecedented effort of mega corporations, including Facebook and Twitter, to interfere in this election, in support of Joe Biden.”
Missouri’s senior U.S. Senator and fellow Republican Roy Blunt has not endorsed Hawley’s intent to raise objections, but 11 GOP U.S. Senators have said they will also object to Biden’s 306-232 Electoral College victory, even though they acknowledge the effort is destined to be futile.
Hawley’s actions drew a strong rebuke from former three-term Missouri U.S. Sen. John Danforth, a 50-year fixture in state GOP politics and a key supporter of Hawley’s 2018 run against former Sen. Claire McCaskill, pushing for him over Wagner, the party favorite.
“Lending credence to Trump’s false claim that the election was stolen is a highly destructive attack on our constitutional government,” Danforth said in a written statement issued Monday, noting he has been called upon by fellow Republicans to denounce Hawley’s actions.
“It is the opposite of conservative; it is radical,” he wrote. “As one friend asked me, ‘What are my grandchildren to think of America if they are told that elections are fraudulent?’”
Danforth said filling objections to election results that have been recounted and reaffirmed repeatedly after numerous lawsuits filed in more than a half dozen states have all failed is “to drive America even farther apart by promoting conspiracy theories and stoking grievances. We must reject this strategy and reclaim America’s historic purpose of holding our diverse nation together as one people.”
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