[James]

Originally Posted by Jack_

If the election went to the House, votes are cast by state delegation. One state, one vote.

The Republicans have control of 26 state delegations

I think that is only if there is no majority in the Electoral College.

.....Can members of Congress block the results?

There is no debate permitted during the counting of the electoral votes. But after the result is read, members of Congress get one opportunity to lodge their concerns.

Any objection to a state’s results must be made in writing and be signed by at least one senator and one member of the House. The two chambers would then separate to debate the objection. Each member of Congress can speak only once — for five minutes — and after two hours the debate is cut off. Each body then votes on whether to reject the state’s results.

Since the Electoral Count Act was passed in 1887, there have been just two instances of congressional objections, in 1969 and 2005. Neither passed either the House or the Senate.


What’s the likelihood of Congress changing the outcome?

Stopping Mr. Biden from assuming office remains a long-shot strategy for Republicans.

For an objection to stand, it must pass both houses of Congress by a simple majority. If the vote followed party lines, Republicans could not block Mr. Biden’s victory.

Democrats control the House, so an objection would already be doomed there. In the Senate, Democrats would need to pick off only a couple of Republicans to side with them to vote down the objection. A number of Republican senators have declared Mr. Biden the president-elect.

With some Trump allies already planning objections, the congressional session is likely to make for good political theater. But the process has little chance of changing the outcome of the election.

From https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/13/u...l-college.html