Republicans sue Vice President Pence in bid to overturn U.S. election results

Several Republicans, including Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), have resorted to suing Vice President Mike Pence as part of a “desperate” last-ditch effort to overturn the results of November’s presidential election. The goal of the lawsuit is to get a federal judge to rule that Pence has the exclusive authority to choose electors when he oversees the Electoral College vote certification on Jan. 6.

Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | In a far-fetched bid to overturn the result of the U.S. election, House Representative Louie Gohmert and other fellow Republicans on Monday sued Vice President Mike Pence, who will preside over the upcoming congressional meeting that will finalize Democratic President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

The lawsuit, which was joined by Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward and others, focused on Pence’s official capacity as vice president, who the 1887 Electoral Count Act dictates should preside over the largely ceremonial Jan. 6 meeting of Congress to count the Electoral votes and finalize Biden’s win over incumbent President Donald Trump.

The litigation asked Texas-based federal judge Jeremy Kernodle to grant Pence the “exclusive authority and sole discretion” to decide which electoral votes from a given state should be counted.