Three Florida members of Congress signal they won’t certify Joe Biden win

Three of Florida’s Republican Representatives signaled in the past 24 hours that they will vote against certifying Electoral College results.

Reps. Kat Cammack and Byron Donalds both appeared on Fox & Friends on Monday and said they would challenge the vote total. Members of the Electoral College met last month and cast votes based on each state’s election for President, with Democrat Joe Biden defeating Republican President Donald Trump with 306 electoral votes to 232.

But Cammack said she wouldn’t accept that outcome and suggested (without evidence) that six states had too many election irregularities. She argued the Constitution required Congress to reject results when state lawmakers fail to address issues.

“We saw this in six states in particular where the courts made decisions, not the state legislatures, about their electoral process,” she said.

Donalds also appeared on the network to argue why Congress should not certify Biden’s win. He issued a statement on New Year’s Eve stating he will vote against certification as well.

“I will object to the certification process on January 6^th and will ask legitimate questions to restore faith in our election system,” he wrote. “Unlike my Democratic colleagues, I refuse to turn a blind eye to the fact that several states, including the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, neglected the oath of their constitution and the United States Constitution by their failure to follow their election laws. Democrats in Congress seem to have lost their devotion to election integrity and security, but make no mistake, I will not waiver.”

That means for both Cammack and Donalds, one of their first acts since being sworn into Congress on Sunday will be to reject the Presidential election results.

Cammack said she feels compelled because 74 million Americans were “extremely disappointed in how this has all gone down.” That references the number of Americans who voted for Trump. More than 81 million voted for Biden.

Joining them in opposing certification will also be Rep. Brian Mast, a Stuart Republican just sworn in to his third term. He also issued a statement, saying he won’t vote to approve the results because Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to investigate potential election issues in swing states that went for Biden.

“For months, Nancy Pelosi abused taxpayer dollars to lead a sham impeachment investigation against President Trump solely for the purpose of delegitimizing the President,” he said in a statement released Sunday. “Now, millions of Americans have important questions about voter fraud, but Congress refuses to conduct an investigation. It’s clear that Congress only intends to act when it will hurt President Trump, and I will not go along with this farce. Therefore, in the absence of a Congressional investigation into fraud in the 2020 Presidential election, I will oppose certifying the results.”

Notably, Mast won among just a few Republican House members in Florida who did not sign on to an amicus brief supporting a Texas lawsuit aimed at throwing election results out in four Biden states. Some who did sign onto that brief, including Matt Gaetz and Bill Posey, have signaled they will also vote against certifying results.

House member challenges to Electoral College results have been fairly common in elections since 2000, but they rarely get a second in the Senate. However, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is leading a coalition of 11 senators who will also contest results.

But enough Senate Republicans, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have signaled they do not support a challenge. That virtually assures Biden’s victory will be certified, and he will be sworn in as President on Jan. 20.