Ross: Law is clear about Vice President Pence’s power (or lack there of) to overturn election
Jan 6, 2021, 7:28 AM | Updated: 10:26 am
Vice President Mike Pence. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool)
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool)
It’s reported that at lunch on Tuesday, Vice President Pence told the boss that he does not believe he has the authority to stop the electors from making Joe Biden president.
And I know what you’re thinking: That’s just like Pence to give up. Couldn’t he at least give it a try?
Well, let’s see what the law says:
According to United States Code, Title 3, Chapter 1, Section 15, the Vice President shall open the certificates of the electors, and hand them to the tellers, to be read in alphabetical order “beginning with the letter A.”
That’s pretty clear. No starting with “H.” He’ll have to include Georgia.
It goes on to say the tellers then count the votes and hand the results back to the Vice President who shall announce the vote, “which announcement shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons, if any, elected President and Vice President.”
Hmm! Suppose that when he gets the final count, he just looks at the paper and sits there. I think we can all agree Mike Pence is very good at just sitting there.
The law doesn’t say when he shall announce the result, and as the presiding officer, he can refuse to adjourn.
So, he could sit there in silence for the next two weeks – denying Joe Biden the presidency — leaving the office vacant. And thus it was that, as the newly-re-elected Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi became the first female President of the United States of America.
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