Page:Gohmert v. Pence (6 20-cv-660-JDK) (2021) Order.pdf/2

 Byrd, 521 U.S. 811, 829 (1997).

The other Plaintiffs, the slate of Republican Presidential Electors for the State of Arizona (the “Nominee-Electors”), allege an injury that is not fairly traceable to the Defendant, the Vice President of the United States, and is unlikely to be redressed by the requested relief.

Accordingly, as explained below, the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over this case and must dismiss the action.

The Electors Clause of the U.S. Constitution requires that each state appoint, in the manner directed by the state’s legislature, the number of presidential electors to which it is constitutionally entitled. art. II, § 1, cl. 2. Under the Twelfth Amendment, each state’s electors meet in their respective states and vote for the President and Vice President. amend XII. The electors then certify the list of their votes and transmit the sealed lists to the President of the United States Senate—that is, the Vice President of the United States. The Twelfth Amendment then provides that, “[t]he President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted.” Id. A candidate winning a majority of the electoral votes wins the Presidency. However, if no candidate obtains a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives is to choose the President—with each state delegation having one vote. Id.