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Texas electors vote to call on battleground states to appoint Trump electors

by Justine Coleman - 12/14/20 6:42 PM ET

As the Electoral College affirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s 2020 victory on Monday, Texas’s electors voted on a resolution calling on four battleground states to appoint new electors to vote for President Trump after the states already submitted their votes.

The electors voted 34-4 on a resolution, which will have no legal authority, requesting the legislatures of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin appoint their own electors in support of Trump, despite Biden winning their states.

All four of these states had already cast their electoral votes for the president-elect Monday, The Texas Tribune reported.

The resolution also “condemn[ed] the lack of action by the U.S. Supreme Court” after the high court last week rejected Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s (R) lawsuit challenging the vote in the same four states.

The Texas electors awarded their 38 votes to Trump and Vice President Pence after their victory in the Lone Star State on Nov. 3, but Biden on Monday still reached the needed 270 electoral votes.

The president has refused to concede to Biden even though the former vice president has been widely recognized as the president-elect for more than a month. Instead, Trump and his campaign have alleged widespread voter fraud in court but have not presented evidence to back up their claims, prompting a string of legal losses.

The final step before Inauguration Day will occur on Jan. 6, when the states officially send their votes to the Capitol, where they will be confirmed in a joint session of the new Congress.

The Texas electors are encouraging the lawmakers from the battleground states in question to challenge the electors if the state legislatures do not replace them, according to the Tribune.

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) responded sarcastically to the request on Twitter, writing, “We’ll get right on that.”