Nevada Congressman Amodei votes to uphold Arizona’s electoral votes
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Mark Amodei (NV-02) released the following statement Wednesday after voting to uphold Arizona’s electoral votes:
“Under 3 U.S.C. 15, a valid objection was filed in writing to the Arizona 2020 Presidential electoral votes. In further accordance with that provision, the House of Representatives engaged in two hours of debate. I watched those two hours of debate and listened to both sides make significant points.
“I understand the frustration with a judge in Arizona expanding the time for registration, which resulted in 30,000 more people registering to vote. That would appear to violate Arizona election law. However, in accordance with Arizona law (AZ Rev Stat § 16-648), the authority to certify electors lies with the Arizona Secretary of State, joined by the Arizona Governor, the Attorney General, and the Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. Their discretion in certifying or not certifying under Arizona law — is absolute.
“In Arizona, these four people must agree in deciding which electors to certify to the House. In this case, they agreed unanimously, to certify.
“If the State’s duly elected top lawyer, chief executive, and chief of elections, along with the chief judicial officer, all agreed on the appropriateness of this certification, the redress for disagreement with their unanimous decision lies in court, and at the ballot box the next time you see the names: Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D), Gov. Doug Ducey (R), Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R), and Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Brutinel (R). That’s Arizona voters’ chance to express disagreement with who was certified as electors.
“Nowhere under 3 U.S.C. 15, do I find authorization for a Member of Congress to substitute their legal judgement for the state and federal trial court judges in two election lawsuits filed in Arizona, where rulings upheld the 10,000 plus vote Biden win.
“As a guy who represents rural people in a very small Western state, and who is humbly grateful for the support of voters in CD-2, and who is equally grateful to the election officials in the 11 counties that comprise CD-2, I have always tried to jealously guard Nevada’s ability to run its own affairs – even at times when I fundamentally disagree with how they’re being run.
“I really don’t want to go down a road, where people from other states start passing judgements on Nevada’s election results, or our rules. We Nevadans will do that, without outside interference. Accordingly, I am voting to support the Arizona Elector Certification Board.”
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