Could Pence reject contested electors under 12th Amendment? Law professors say yes
In this scenario, for example, when counting Pennsylvania electors, Pence could choose to “count†the slate of electors from the Republican legislature in Harrisburg and not the slate of electors from Democratic Governor Tom Wolf.
By Carrie Sheffield
Updated: December 8, 2020 - 8:40am
Two law professors are arguing the U.S. Constitution's 12th Amendment could empower Vice President Mike Pence to reject contested electors and pave the way for the U.S. House to re-elect President Trump under what's known as a contingent election.
In an October 19 essay at "The American Mind," John Yoo, a law professor at the University of California-Berkeley, and Robert J. Delahunty, a law professor at St. Thomas University, argue that Pence, as presiding officer of the joint congressional session on electors, can refuse to "count" the electoral votes from disputed states.
However, this legal analysis empowering the Vice President faces headwinds as states continue to certify results for Joe Biden over President Trump.
The scholars argue that while the Electoral Count Act of 1887 appears to create "safe harbors" for a state's report of its Electoral College votes, the Act itself might be unconstitutional, because under the 12th Amendment, "the President of the Senate [i.e., the Vice President] shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates [of the electoral votes of the states] and the votes shall then be counted."
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https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/law-professors-pence-could-reject-contested-electors-under-12th-amendment
