A Republican lawmaker in the House of Representatives is suing the vice president of the United States in a last-ditch effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election — a move that is highly improbable to succeed.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) filed a lawsuit along with Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward and GOP officials against Vice President Mike Pence, seeking to have a federal law governing the role the office of the vice president plays in accepting the Electoral College results declared unconstitutional.
The lawsuit is the latest in a series of unsuccessful efforts to have courts overturn the election, which was declared for former Vice President Joe Biden while President Donald Trump and his supporters claimed massive voter fraud and other election irregularities tainted the results.
The Electoral Count Act of 1887 establishes procedures for the counting of electoral votes in Congress. On Jan. 6, Congress will meet to certify the results of the Electoral College, which President-elect Biden won 306 to outgoing President Donald Trump's 232. The vice president's role, as president of the Senate, is to "open all the certificates" — that is the papers containing the Electoral College results from each state — in the presence of both houses of Congress.
