By Jake Horton
BBC Reality Check
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US President Donald Trump says his vice-president, Mike Pence, has the facility to reject the formal affirmation of Joe Biden as the subsequent president.
But this is not the case. The vice-president has no authorized authority to declare Mr Biden’s election victory invalid.
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The Vice President has the facility to reject fraudulently chosen electors.
— Donald J. Trump (@actualDonaldTrump) January 5, 2021
What does President Trump need?
In the US, electors – based mostly on the leads to every state – formally determine who’s to be the subsequent president.
Congress is assembly to rely the electoral votes and make sure the nomination of president-elect Biden.
This course of often takes place with out controversy, however the president and his supporters are persevering with to dispute the election outcomes, citing unfounded claims of fraud.
If Vice President @Mike_Pence comes by way of for us, we are going to win the Presidency. Many States need to decertify the error they made in certifying incorrect & even fraudulent numbers in a course of NOT accredited by their State Legislatures (which it have to be). Mike can ship it again!
— Donald J. Trump (@actualDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021
Once the electoral votes are counted, it will likely be as much as Mr Pence to formally announce Mr Biden as the subsequent US president.
Mr Trump desires the vice-president to step in and reject the outcomes of the election, declaring the vote fraudulent.
What is Mr Pence’s function?
The vice-president’s function is basically procedural, because the president of the Senate.
The 12th Amendment of the US Constitution says: “The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted.”
Mr Pence will likely be tasked with studying out the ultimate presidential consequence as accredited by Congress.
It shouldn’t be inside his powers for him to reject the consequence.
The Electoral Count Act of 1887 provides Congress the facility to overview the outcomes, not the vice-president.
Members of Congress can increase disputes. If a problem is supported by a member in each the Senate and House (the higher and decrease chambers of Congress), then counting is paused and the problem is debated.
Despite some vital assist amongst Republicans in Congress, the president shouldn’t be anticipated to have sufficient backers to overturn the outcomes.
This would require a majority of each chambers of Congress to vote in favour of nullifying the disputed outcomes.
picture copyrightGetty ImagesMr Pence has mentioned he “welcomes” the Republican lawmakers’ plan to lift objections.
But as soon as disputes are debated and settled, it is over to Mr Pence to announce the ultimate affirmation that Mr Biden received the 2020 election.
This is one thing Mr Biden did to formally affirm Mr Trump because the winner of the 2016 election.
Could the vice-president simply not flip up?
This is an possibility for Mr Pence.
He may select to not present as much as Congress, or step out of the room earlier than he is required to announce the ultimate consequence.
This has occurred earlier than. Vice-President Hubert Humphrey declined to preside over the counting of electoral votes in 1969, after he misplaced to Richard Nixon.
In this state of affairs, the function falls to the second most senior member of the US Senate, at present Republican Chuck Grassley.
