Did Rasmussen Polling Just Call on Pence To Make Game-Changing Move To Give Trump the Election?
Polling company Rasmussen may have suggested in a tweet Sunday that Vice President Mike Pence should not certify the Electoral College results to confirm the outcome of the 2020 election.
Pence, who is the president of the Senate, will preside over the counting and certification of electoral votes on Jan. 6 as part of his constitutional duty stated in the 12th Amendment.
“Come January 6th: (Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything. – Stalin) ‘Come January 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence will be presented with the sealed certificates containing the ballots of the presidential electors,'” Rasmussen tweeted Sunday quoting writer Alexander Macris.
At that moment, the Presidency will be in his hands.
And there is nothing stopping Pence, under the (plenary and unappealable) authority vested in him as President of the Senate, from declining to open and count the certificates from the six disputed states.
2/4
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) December 27, 2020
Pence, however, technically does not have the power to choose which votes to count, The Hill reported.
Per the 12th Amendment: “[T]he votes shall then be counted[.] … The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President[.]”
Reader comments?
4/4
More here – https://t.co/ehnnu84Lgi
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) December 27, 2020
Supporters of President Donald Trump have been pushing for legal action to be taken in order to reverse the results of the presidential election, in which former Vice President Joe Biden is currently the presumptive winner.
On Monday, it was announced that Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert was suing Pence in an effort to give him the power to decide which Electoral College votes to count and which to reject — particularly ones from contested swing states.
“We continue to hold out hope that there is a federal judge who understands that the fraud that stole this election will mean the end of our republic, and this suit would insure that the Vice-President will only accept electors legitimately and legally elected,” Gohmert said in a statement Monday, according to KYTX-TV.
“There must be an opportunity for a day in court when fraud was this prevalent.”
Ultimately, this suit — like the vast majority of the president’s legal battles regarding alleged widespread voter fraud — is a long shot.
We continue to hold out hope that there is a federal judge who understands that the fraud that stole this election will mean the end of our republic. This lawsuit would ensure that the VP can only accept electors legitimately and legally elected. https://t.co/1wenhJrRFY
— Louie Gohmert (@replouiegohmert) December 29, 2020
Meanwhile, Rasmussen has tended to give more favorable polling numbers to Trump compared to other pollsters, though it is somewhat surprising for them to appear to take a stance in an ongoing discourse about voter fraud.
While these valiant efforts from Trump loyalists are certainly noteworthy, it’s worth pointing out that, assuming the Gohmert case does not go anywhere, Pence would likely face criticism from those claiming he’s going against his constitutional duty to certify the election should he decline to count the certificates from the six disputed states.
Rasmussen could try and claim that the election was rigged in favor of Biden, but that does not legally make it true. (Numerous affidavits testifying to various types of election fraud have been filed in courts in several swing states. These affidavits constitute evidence of fraud, but those allegations have yet to be proven by those courts, and the legal action remains ongoing.)
No matter what happens, it’s of the utmost importance that the electoral process laid out in the Constitution be respected.
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