Last Updated on January 2, 2021
In a statement to Politico regarding the 12 U.S. Senators who are joining the January 6 Electoral College battle, Sen. John Cornyn indicated he does not understand how contingent elections are held in the House of Representatives, and may not have read the 12th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Speaking to Politico, Cornyn said “I confirmed yesterday that if in fact some of the certified votes are not counted and nobody gets to 270 that Nancy Pelosi and the Democratically-controlled House of Representatives gets to choose the next president.”
This is obviously and provably false by a simple understanding of the U.S. Constitution and 12th Amendment, which in part reads (emphasis added):
The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice.
In other words, the Constitution clearly explains that, in a contingent election, each state represented in the U.S. House will only have one vote, thus rendering the additional representatives afforded to high population states like California and New York moot.
As National File previously reported, “While the House of Representatives has more representatives based on population, there are currently 27 states that have sent Republican representatives to the House, and 20 states that have sent Democratic representatives to the House. Three states have an even split.”
National File contacted Cornyn’s office to determine whether the Senator wished to correct his obviously false statement, and to ascertain whether he has read the U.S. Constitution, specifically the 12th Amendment. National File did not receive a comment in time for publication.
Cornyn’s statement is particularly suspect considering his fellow Texas senator, Ted Cruz, joined the planned Electoral College battle earlier today, and was joined by 10 other Senators.
A total of 12 Senators now plan to object on January 6, led by Josh Hawley.
