Page:Gohmert v. Pence (6 20-cv-660-JDK) (2021) Order.pdf/3

 The Electoral Count Act, informed by the Hayes–Tilden dispute of 1876, sought to standardize the counting of electoral votes in Congress. Stephen A. Siegel, The Conscientious Congressman’s Guide to the Electoral Count Act of 1887, 56 541, 547–50 (2004). Section 5 makes states’ determinations as to their electors, under certain circumstances, “conclusive” and provides that these determinations govern the counting of electoral votes. 3 U.S.C. § 5. Section 15 requires a joint session of Congress to count the electoral votes on January 6, with the President of the Senate presiding. Id. § 15.

During that session, the President of the Senate calls for objections on the electoral votes. Written objections submitted by at least one Senator and at least one Member of the House of Representatives trigger a detailed dispute-resolution procedure. Id. Most relevant here, Section 15 requires both the House of Representatives and the Senate—by votes of their full membership rather than by state delegations—to decide any objection. The Electoral Count Act also gives the state governor a role in certifying the state’s electors, which Section 15 considers in resolving objections. Id. § 6.

It is these dispute-resolution procedures that Plaintiffs challenge in this case.

On December 14, 2020, electors convened in each state to cast their electoral votes. Id. § 7; Docket No. 1 ¶ 5. In Arizona, the Democratic Party’s slate of eleven electors voted for Joseph R. Biden and Kamala D. Harris. These votes were certified by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and submitted as required under the Electoral Count Act. Docket No. 1 ¶ 22. That same