User’s manual for presidential election verification

The House and Senate will meet on Monday in a Joint Session of Congress to confirm the results of the 2024 presidential vote.

The turmoil in the Capitol and the defiance of the 2020 presidential election certificate turned the quadruple, often dormant issue of Electoral College confirmation into a full-blown national security event. Congressional security officials began building a 10-foot-high fence around the outer perimeter of the Capitol building a few days ago. Some of the fences extend beyond the general “Capitol Square” which includes the Capitol building itself. One such fence surrounded the entire outer boundary of Russell Senate Park.

One of the ironies of the American political system is that the person who loses the race for the presidency often presides over his defeat. In this case, Vice President Harris. Harris remains Vice President until January 20. That also means he continues as President of the Senate.

Others have done this difficult task to ensure their defeat. Future President Richard Nixon was Vice President when he lost to President John F. Kennedy in 1960. Nixon then endorsed JFK as the winner in January 1961. Former Vice President Al Gore surrendered his candidacy to President George W. Bush after the 2000 election which was contested and contested over which candidate won Florida. Gore then went to the Capitol to confirm Bush’s victory in January 2001.

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Here’s what the 12th Amendment to the Constitution says about Congress signing the election results: “The President of the Senate shall open all certificates and votes, before the Senate and the House of Representatives.”

This requires a Joint Session of Congress. This is when the House and Senate meet together, at the same time, usually in the House chamber. The Speaker of the House presides along with the President of the Senate: in this case, Vice President Harris.

But Harris runs the show.

The House and Senate meet only in Joint Session of Congress to accept the President of the State of the Union and confirm the result of the election. And since the House succeeded in electing the Speaker on Friday afternoon, the House and the Senate can call a joint meeting. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will co-chair the session on the podium in the House chamber.

Things are different compared to this project four years ago.

The routine, almost ceremonial, certification of the Electoral College changed forever on January 6, 2021, following a Capitol protest.

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Capitol Police began restricting traffic on the streets surrounding the Capitol grounds early Monday morning. Access to House and Senate Office buildings is limited to members, staff and visitors on official business. There will be only a few pedestrian access points on the Capitol grounds. Official Capitol tours are suspended.

Speaker Mike Johnson gives a press conference and gavel speech (Getty Images)

Johnson will call the House to order around 1 pm EST Monday. House Sergeant at Arms Bill McFarland will announce the arrival of Harris and the senators as they enter the House chamber. Members of the House Administration Committee and the Senate Rules Committee will serve as “tellers” to help shape electoral votes.

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Harris will announce that the House and Senate meet in Joint Session and declare “that the certificates (of election) are true and correct in form.”

Starting with Alabama, it is likely that one of the narrators will read the following:

“The certificate of electoral vote for the State of Alabama appears to be normal and true. So it appears that Donald John Trump of the State of Florida received nine votes for President and JD Vance of the State of Ohio received nine votes. Vice President.”

And we’re leaving.

In late 2022, lawmakers made several changes to the 1887 “Electoral Count Act.” Congress first passed the Vote Counting Act in response to the disputed election of 1876. Many states sent competing slates of voters to Washington. Lawmakers have decided that there is no formality in the presentation of Electoral College results.

Democrat Samuel Tilden won the popular vote. But President Rutherford B. Hayes won the White House – after a special congressional commission awarded him 20 contested electoral votes.

United States Presidential Contest, Samuel Tilden, Democratic Representative and Rutherford Hayes, Republican Representative, 1876. (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The 2022 Election Counting Reform and Presidential Reform Act clarified the role of the Vice President in a Joint Session of Congress. President-elect Trump and other loyalists are counting on then-Vice President Pence to prove himself in the process. Many want him to accept other slates of voters in the states in question. The revised law states that the role of the Vice President is “ministerial.” The new law states that the Vice President does not have the power to “determine, accept, reject, or adjudicate or resolve disputes regarding the proper list of voters, the eligibility of voters, or the votes of voters.”

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The new law also established a fast-track appeal process in the courts regarding electoral votes. Finally, the law changed how lawmakers themselves could enter the state election race during the Joint Session.

The old system required one member of the House and one member of parliament to sign a petition challenging each state’s electoral slate. In 2021, Republicans plan to challenge as many as six states. Finally they asked two.

In 2001, several members of the Congressional Black Caucus tried to challenge Florida voters. But they did not have a co-sponsor with the Senate.

File: House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol after the week’s final votes on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

After Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., urged him to question Florida’s electoral votes, Al Gore – again, who oversaw his loss – asked if the California Democrat had a Senate party.

Waters replied that he did not and “didn’t care.”

Gore then responded with a state-like announcement that soothed the political wounds of the disastrous election he had just lost to President W. Bush.

“The chairman will advise you on those rules do care,” said Gore.

His demotion of Waters prompted bipartisan applause in the House chamber.

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A question arose about the basis of Ohio’s electoral votes when Congress began authorizing the 2004 election in January 2005. But this time, Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, and former Sen. force the House and Senate to debate and vote separately on Ohio’s election campaign. But the House and Senate rejected their request.

The 2022 law made it difficult to challenge the government’s election certificates. Now it takes one-fifth of all members of the House and one-fifth of all members of the Senate to challenge what the states send.

The US representatives of the 119th Congress were sworn in on the first day of the session in the House Chamber of the US Capitol Building on January 03, 2025 in Washington, DC. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) retained his Speakership amid opposition from his own party as the 119th Congress held its first session to vote for a new Speaker of the House. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The outcome of the 2024 election is not in dispute. There is no expectation of anyone pushing for more Congressional review of the Electoral College. And despite additional security measures, Capitol security officials do not expect rallies and no violence, unlike in 2021.

In 2021 — after chaos and two punches near the House — Pence certified the result of the election vote just before 4 a.m. EST on January 7. This year’s work should wrap up in an hour or so. Vice President Harris will announce that Donald Trump has won the election “for the term beginning January 20, 2025.” He will then dissolve the Joint Session.

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Two weeks later at noon, US Chief Justice John Roberts swears in Donald John Trump on the West Front of the Capitol for his second term.