DEMOLIBNUTS CLAIM BOTH RUNOFFS WITH FIXED HELP AND A LONG DAY AHEAD FOR CONGRESS COUNT

2020 AMERICAN ELECTION RESULTS BY STATE TRUMP VS LOSER LIBERAL SLEEPY (SLOPPY JOE) BIDEN.

ON D-66 OF THE TRUMP WIN OF THE PRESIDENCY. WED JAN 06,21.

Key dates for the Electoral College and what they mean-AEIdeas-DECEMBER 14,20

What are the key dates for the workings of the Electoral College?

November 3 — Election Day

Election Day is November 3. We may or may not know the winner of the presidential contest on election night, but we certainly will not have a final tally and certified results until weeks later. States vary widely in the time they allot for certifying their election results. Some may give a final certification the week after Election Day. Others may take over 30 days. And there is the possibility of recounts and judicial contests of elections which could extend the time to determine an official winner of a state.
Ballots are passed out to 16 Electors on the Michigan Senate floor for them to cast their formal votes for the president and vice president of the United States in Lansing, Michigan, U.S., December 19, 2016. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

December 8 — Safe Harbor

December 14 — The meeting of the Electors

Two key dates loom in December. On December 14, presidential electors must have been selected by the states and will meet as a group in their states to cast electoral votes for president and vice president. But December 8 is also a significant date, the so-called “safe harbor” date. The Electoral Count Act sets this date as an important date for states to make their official selection of electors, as those electoral votes will be given greater protection from challenge when Congress counts the electoral votes in January. The Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore assigned great significance to this date in Bush v. Gore.

January 3 — The convening of the new Congress

January 6 — Congress counts the votes

January 20 — Inauguration Day. The new presidential term begins at noon.

On January 3rd, the new Congress will take office, and on January 6th it will meet to count the electoral votes and declare a president- and vice president-elect. On January 20th at noon, the current presidential term will end and the next one will begin.This is excerpted from the new fourth edition of After the People Vote, edited by John Fortier, senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center and a member of AEI’s Election Watch team.John C. Fortier-AEI Adjunct Scholar-SENOIRFELLOWKarlyn Bowman-Senior Fellow

OK SO AFTER I DONE MY LAST POST AT 11.58PM. IT SAID 98% OF THE VOTES WERE IN. AFTER THE COMMERCIAL. IT MIRACULOUSLY WENT BACK TO 97% TO GO. THE HITLARY THE 2ND CLINTON NEWS NETWORK CNN IS GOING THE WRONG WAY IN THE FIX FOR THE DEMOLIBNUTS. THEN WHEN I WOKE UP HERE AT 6AM. IT SAID 99% COMPLETE. BUT AFTER MY BATH. IT IS AGAIN CHANGED FROM 99 TO 98% COMPLETER. THE MEDIA NEEDS MORE TIME TO FIX THE FINAL RESULTS FOR THE DEMOLIBNUTS. BY ADDING 3% OF VOTES TO GO INSTEAD OF 2%. AND OF COURSE THE DEMOLIBNUTS LEAD IN BOTH RACES. R1 WARNOCK HAS 2,227,296-50.6 TO GOP LOEFFLER 2,173,866-49.4. AND IN R2 OSSOFF HAS 2,208,717-50.2 TO GOP PERDUE 2,192,347-49.8.

AND AT 1PM TODAY THE CONGRESS COUNTS THE VOTES. WERE THE HOUSE AND SENATE GOP WILL BE FORCING A 2 HOUR DEBATE 6 TIMES DURING THE COUNTS. WISCONSIN, PENNSYLVANIA, ARIZONA AND 3 OTHER STATES AT LEAST THE REPUBLICANS WILL BE FORCING 2 HOUR DEBATES IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE. ITS GONNA BE A LONG DAY OF EXCITMENT. SEE IF HERES HOW TRUMP BECOMES PRESIDENT. AND ALSO TODAY. MIKE PENCE WILL PROVE TO AMERICA OF VOTER FRAUD. ITS GOING TO BE AN INTERESTING DAY.

AT 11AM TRUMP WILL BE TALKING FROM GEORGIA I THINK. ABOUT THE LOSSES IN  GEORGIA LAST NIGHT AND BTODAY AND UNTILL FRIDAY. THEN AT 1PM. IT WILL BE A LONG DASY OF DEBATES. AND SOMEHOW TRUMP WILL BECOME PRESIDENT.

ITS 12.57PM-AND IN 3 MINUTES THE AFFIRM PRESIDENT ELECT STARTS. THE FIRST ONE TO BE FILIBUSTERED BY GOP MEMBERS WILL BE ARIZONA-THE 3RD ONE NAMED.THE JOINT HOUSE - SENATE COUNT.

PELOUSI AND PENCE WILL LEAD THE ELECTORAL COUNT. 11 MEMBERS FROM EACH SIDE ARE ALLOWED IN THE CHAMBER-AND NO DEBATES ALLOWED IN THE JOINT SESSION-ALABAMA-9-TRUMP.ALASKA-3-TRUMP.ARIZONA-11-BIDEN (61 GOPS OBJECT)-EACH SIDE-SENATE-HOUSE DEBATE FOR 2 HOURS NOW. TILL 3.15PM.

ITS 3.50PM. AND PROTESTERS FOR THE LAST HOUR OR SO HAVE PLACED THEMSELVES OUTSIDE THE WHITEHOUSE. OF COURSE THE MENTAL CASES TAPPER , BLITZER AND EX TERRORIST VAN JONES ARE CALLING FOR TRUMP TO STOP THE PROTESTERS FROM STANDING OUTSIDE THE WHITEHOUSE. AND THE 3 ARE CALLING FOR SOMEBODY ELSE TO TAKE OVER TRUMPS POSITION. CALLING TRUMP INCOMPITANT. NOW BLITZ IS COMPLAINING TRUMP HAS 14 DAYS LEFT. AND HE WON'T TELL THE PROTESTERSD TO LEAVE. JOHN THE BOARD NUTJOB AT CNN IS SAYING THESE ARE DANGEROUS, VIOLENT, MOB, LAWLESS, CRIMINALS. HMM EVERY THING I SAY ABOUT DEMOLIBNUTS WHEN THEY RIOT-BURN-LOOT ALL KINDS OF AMERICAN CITIES IN THE NAME OF BLACK RIGHTS AND RACISM. BIGOTRY AND HATRED. NOW DEMOLIBNUTS HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM NOW. A TASTE OF ALL YOUR OWN MOB-TERRORIST-LAWLESS-CRIMINAL-ACTIONS. 2 SIDES CAN PLAY THE PROTEST GAME-NOT JUST NUTJOB DEMOLIBNUTS. THE ENTIRE NATIONALGUARD HAS BEEN CALLED TO THE WHITEHOUSE. BIDEN IS NOW BLABBING HOW THESE PROTESTERS ARE AN ASSAULT ON DEMOCRACY AND DISORDER AND CHAOS. BIDEN SAYS I CALL ON THIS MOB TO GET BACK. GET BACK-THERE STANDING QUITELY OUTSIDE THE WHITEHOUSE. BIDEN SAYS THERE INSURRECTION-LAWLESS PEOPLE,BREAKING WINDOWS-STORMING THE WHITEHOUSE.AMERICAN DEMOCRACY REQUIRES PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL NOT POWER BUT GOOD WILL OF WE THE PEOPLE. AMERICA IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS. PEACEFUL-GENEROUS-JUST PEOPLE OF RESPECT AND HONOR. THE WORLD IS WATCHING THIS. BIDEN IS SUCH A B-SER. AND HE CLAIMS TRUMP IS DOING NOTHING. MEANWHILE ITS TRUMP THAT CALLED IN THE NATIONAL GUARD. THE CLINTON NEWS NETWORK IS CALLING THIS A CONSPIRACY THEORY COUP BY TRUMP. CNN IS BEING EVACUATED FROM THE WHITEHOUSE. OH POOR CNN. POOR CRY BABIES. THE CAPITAL POLICE ARE IN THE WHITEHOUSE AND TAKING THE MEDIA TO A SECRET LOCATION....OH WHAT A DERANGED DANGEROUS SITUATION THE MEDIA GOING TO A SECRET LOCATION. AND THE MEDIA IS NOT BLAMING THEMSELVES FOR THESE ACTIONS. NO OF COURSE THEY BLAME TRUMP AND HIS FOLLOWERS. THE MEDIA ARE THE BLAME CLINTON-COMMUNIST-NEWS-NETWORK. AND THE REST OF THE DECIEVING LYING HATING MEDIA. ITS 4.22PM. NOW TRUMP IS SAYING GO HOME-PEACEFUL BUT WE GOT ROBBED OF THE STOLEN ELECTION. DON'T DO WHAT THE DEMOLIBNUTS DO RIOT-BURN-LOOT CITIES. WE ARE PEACEFULNPEOPLE UNLIKE THE VDEMOLIBNUTS AND BTHEIR VIOLENCE.ITS 4.25PM-JAN 6,2021. CNN CLAIMES TRUMP REFUSES THAT HE LOST THE ELECTION. AND IS CAUSING INSURRECTION TO THE COUNTRY.
 
ITS 6.22PM. AND THERE IS A 6PM CURFEW IN WASHINGTON. WOLF BLITZER JUST OUT RIGHT LIED ABOUT THE PEACEFUL PROTESTERS. BLITZER PROPAGANDA HITLER EXPERT SAID. DID THE POLICE TELL THE MOB HE CALLS THEM TO GET BACK FROM THE WHITHOUSE OR WE WILL GAS YOU AND ARREST YOU. THIS ALEX MARQUARTE PROPAGANDIST OF CNN. SAID NO BLITZY-THE POLICE ARE NOT SAYING ANYTHING TO THE PEACEFUL PROTESTERS. AND ALSO A WOMAN WAS SHOT AT THE WHITEHOUSE. AND SHE NOW HAS DIED FROM HER WOUND. BUT OF COURSE CNN WITHOUT KNOWING THE FACTS ABOUT HER DEATH. BLAMED THE TRUMP SUPPORTERS AT THE WHITEHOUSE FOR KILLING HER. BUT WHEN A TERRORIST ATTACK OCCURS. CNN INSIST YOU CAN'T BLAME A MUSLIM. YOU MUST WAIT FOR THE FACTS. BLITZER-CNN HYPOOOOOCRIT HITLER LIERS. CNN NEEDS A 10,000 FOOT WHEEL BARROW TO CATCH ALL THE HITLER DUNG THEIR PROPAGANDIZING  AGAINST THESE PEACEFUL TRUMP SUPPORTING PROTESTERS WHO ARE WALKING AROUND. BUT CNN CALLS THEM VIOLENT DOMESTIC TERRORISTS-INSURRECTORS AND  RIOTERS AND HATERS OF AMERICA. AND BLAMES EVERYTHING ON TRUMP. AND WANTS TRUMP IMPEACHED OR THROWN OUT OF OFFICE. TO STOP HIS LAST 14 DAYS OF THIS OFFICE. UNTILL HE REKNEWS THE NEXT 4 YEARS AS PRESIDENT ON JAN 20TH. PELOUSY SAYS THE VOTE COUNT GOES ON TONIGHT ET. HMM-IF THEIR SO VIOLENT. WHY WOULD POLOUSY COME OUTTA THE UNDER GROUND WHITEHOUSE BUNKER AND WANT TO CONTINUE THE COUNT IF THE WORLD IS GOING TO END WITH THESE PEACEFUL PROTESTERS.IS MY QUESTION COW DUNG HITLERS CNN.THE ELECTORAL COUNT RESUMES AT 8PM.ITS 6.45PM CURRENTLY.

1 hour ago-Kate Murphy-D.C. police chief: 'Just above 13 arrests' made

At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Robert J. Contee III, chief of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, said his officers made "just above 13 arrests" during the breach of the U.S. Capitol.None of those arrested were Washington residents, Contee said. Three were from Arlington, Va., and the rest were "from out of the area."A number of firearms, including long guns and handguns, were recovered by police, he added.

National Review-At Least One Person Shot after Trump Supporters Breach Capitol-Tobias Hoonhout-Wed, January 6, 2021, 2:20 PM EST

At least one person was shot by police in the Capitol building Wednesday afternoon, according to multiple reports, after thousands descended on the hill following a “Stop the Steal” rally in which President Trump again claimed the election was stolen from him.Armed standoff on House floor. Police pointing guns at protestors who have broken glass door — Erik Wasson (@elwasson) January 6, 2021-Video from the chamber. pic.twitter.com/UKF7MScHKN — Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 6, 2021-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) told Fox News that he overheard “shots fired” on Capitol Hill police radios, and there are reports of at least one woman being shot in the chest. Trump has tweeted asking his supporters to “remain peaceful. No violence!”A person on a stretcher just wheeled out with what appears to be a serious injury. pic.twitter.com/wucrpusBzE- Michael Del Moro (@MikeDelMoro) January 6, 2021-The Senate chamber has also been breached by protestors. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) has requested the National Guard, and D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser has ordered a 6 p.m. curfew.Several people got on to a scaffolding outside Senate, took it to second floor, which looked like the area where McConnell’s office is located, and started banging on windows pic.twitter.com/IIZ21nkzFT — Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) January 6, 2021-The massive crowd, numbering tens of thousands, moved on the Capitol — where vice president Mike Pence is overseeing the certification of the Electoral College — after Trump repeatedly urged them to do so, saying he would join them and vowing to “never give up” and “never concede.” Trump, however, left for the White House after delivering his address, and did not join the MAGA crowd.Capitol Hill police moved to evacuate the Cannon House office building after the crowd overwhelmed police and broke through barriers. Flash bangs and tear gas were used on the crowd, with little effect. There are reports of multiple suspicious packages near the Capitol grounds (the New York Times later reported that an “explosive device” was safely detonated at the Republican National Committee). The crowd subsequently broke into the building as both the House and the Senate sessions to certify the election were forced into recess, and Pence was escorted out.Tear gas has been deployed inside the building, and members of Congress have been instructed to put on gas masks and are being evacuated.Broke down the barriers- storming Congress pic.twitter.com/gCFOgX4PTT — Storm_Chaser (@StmCh_) January 6, 2021-Right outside the Capitol building: pic.twitter.com/UKNCEqF4P5— Henry Rodgers (@henryrodgersdc) January 6, 2021-BREAKING: Trump supporters have breached the Capitol building, tearing down 4 layers of security fencing and are attempting to occupy the building — fighting federal police who are overrun-This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Thousands, police can’t stop them pic.twitter.com/VVdTUwV5YN— ELIJAH SCHAFFER (@ElijahSchaffer) January 6, 2021-Capitol Police are using flashbangs to try to get the Trump crowd to disperse. pic.twitter.com/IHAtc1dsJ5- Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) January 6, 2021-BREAKING: revolution in process as Trump supporters break into the Capitol building, attacking police, breaking windows, and knocking down doors-Full anarchy at this “mostly peaceful” demonstration DC-The people have pushed through & are storming to main chambers pic.twitter.com/NW6VDDNBQw— ELIJAH SCHAFFER (@ElijahSchaffer) January 6, 2021-While Donald Trump Jr. condemned the actions of the crowd, urging them to not “start acting like the other side,” the president took to Twitter to attack his running mate.Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021-Less than 15 minutes later, Trump urged his supporters to “[s]tay peaceful!” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has announced that, per Trump’s orders, the National Guard and federal law enforcement have been called to secure the Capitol.Multiple Republicans, including Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas) — one of the instigators in the effort to object to the Electoral College certification — have condemned the clashes with police.Violence is always unacceptable. Even when passions run high.Anyone engaged in violence—especially against law enforcement—should be fully prosecuted.God bless the Capitol Police and the honorable men & women of law enforcement who show great courage keeping all of us safe. — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 6, 2021-Violence and anarchy are unacceptable. We are a nation of laws.This needs to end now. https://t.co/zyrFUFYZm1-— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) January 6, 2021-

The Week-Ted Cruz suggested the Senate hold a 'commission' to investigate election results. Bipartisan senators immediately tore him apart.Kathryn Krawczyk-Wed, January 6, 2021, 2:43 PM EST

In his opposition to the counting of electoral votes for President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) suggested Congress "follow the precedent" of another disputed election.In 1877, just a few years after the end of the Civil War, a disputed election was resolved with a bipartisan electoral commission that put former Republican President Rutherford B. Hayes in the White House, but also ended most of the Reconstruction efforts aimed at enforcing the end of slavery and white supremacy in the South. The 1877 commission allowed Jim Crow laws to take hold in the South and remain for nearly a century later. But without much regard for that racist history, Cruz suggested today's Congress follow 1877's lead."I would urge that we follow the precedent of 1877," says Senator Ted Cruz.The bipartisan electoral commission that Cruz speaks of was widely regarded as a disaster https://t.co/azXMO0zfYw pic.twitter.com/dLSuPLrvcO— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) January 6, 2021-Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) followed with a complete teardown of Cruz's argument, questioning why Cruz wasn't also disputing the elections of dozens of House members elected on the same ballots. And then came Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), a Republican from a swing state Biden won. Despite supporting and campaigning for Trump, Toomey also wasn't siding with the Republican opposition, instead questioning just how much good a "commission" would do for the undisputed count.

Ossoff declares victory-JAN 6,21

Democrat Jon Ossoff declared victory in his Senate race against Republican incumbent David Perdue, saying in a video statement, "It is with humility that I thank the people of Georgia for electing me to serve you in the United States Senate." The Associated Press has yet to call the race.Early Wednesday morning, Ossoff’s campaign manager, Ellen Foster, released the following statement:“When all the votes are counted we fully expect that Jon Ossoff will have won this election to represent Georgia in the United States Senate. The outstanding vote is squarely in parts of the state where Jon’s performance has been dominant. We look forward to seeing the process through in the coming hours and moving ahead so Jon can start fighting for all Georgians in the U.S. Senate.”

(AP)-Democrat Warnock defeats Loeffler-JAN 6,21

Rev. Raphael Warnock defeated Sen. Kelly Loeffler in one of two Senate runoff elections that took place Tuesday. Warnock, the pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, is the first Democrat to win a Senate election in the state since 1996 and the first Black person to represent the state in the chamber. Loeffler, a businesswoman who was appointed to the seat in December 2019, attempted to portray Warnock as a radical and aligned herself closely with President Trump in his bid to overturn last November's presidential election. The Associated Press called the race at 2:01 a.m. ET.We are still awaiting a call in the contest between Sen. David Perdue and challenger Jon Ossoff. If Ossoff were to win, Democrats would take control of the Senate, while a Perdue victory would keep Sen. Mitch McConnell installed as majority leader.

Associated Press-Warnock makes history with Senate win as Dems near majority-STEVE PEOPLES, BILL BARROW and RUSS BYNUM-Wed, January 6, 2021, 3:02 AM EST

ATLANTA (AP) — Democrat Raphael Warnock won one of Georgia’s two Senate runoffs Wednesday, becoming the first Black senator in his state’s history and putting the Senate majority within the party's reach.A pastor who spent the past 15 years leading the Atlanta church where Martin Luther King Jr. preached, Warnock defeated Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler. It was a stinging rebuke of outgoing President Donald Trump, who made one of his final trips in office to Georgia to rally his loyal base behind Loeffler and the Republican running for the other seat, David Perdue.The focus now shifts to the second race between Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff. That contest was too early to call as votes were still being counted.There were still some mail ballots and in-person early votes left to be counted statewide, the majority of which are in Democratic-leaning counties. Under Georgia law, a trailing candidate may request a recount when the margin of an election is less than or equal to 0.5 percentage points.If Ossoff wins, Democrats will have complete control of Congress, strengthening President-elect Joe Biden’s standing as he prepares to take office on Jan. 20.Warnock’s victory is a symbol of a striking shift in Georgia’s politics as the swelling number of diverse, college-educated voters flex their power in the heart of the Deep South. It follows Biden’s victory in November, when he became the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state since 1992.Warnock, 51, acknowledged his improbable victory in a message to supporters early Wednesday, citing his family’s experience with poverty. His mother, he said, used to pick “somebody else’s cotton” as a teenager.“The other day, because this is America, the 82-year-old hands that used to pick somebody else’s cotton picked her youngest son to be a United States senator,” he said. “Tonight, we proved with hope, hard work and the people by our side, anything is possible.”Loeffler refused to concede in a brief message to supporters shortly after midnight.“We’ve got some work to do here. This is a game of inches. We’re going to win this election,” insisted Loeffler, a 50-year-old former businesswoman who was appointed to the Senate less than a year ago by the state’s governor.Loeffler, who remains a Georgia senator until the results of Tuesday’s election are finalized, said she would return to Washington on Wednesday morning to join a small group of senators planning to challenge Congress’ vote to certify Biden’s victory.“We are going to keep fighting for you,” Loeffler said, “This is about protecting the American dream.”Georgia’s other runoff election pitted Perdue, a 71-year-old former business executive who held his Senate seat until his term expired on Sunday, against Ossoff, a former congressional aide and journalist. At just 33 years old, Ossoff would be the Senate’s youngest member.Trump’s false claims of voter fraud cast a dark shadow over the runoff elections, which were held only because no candidate hit the 50% threshold in the general election. He attacked the state’s election chief on the eve of the election and raised the prospect that some votes might not be counted even as votes were being cast Tuesday afternoon.Republican state officials on the ground reported no significant problems.This week’s elections mark the formal finale to the turbulent 2020 election season more than two months after the rest of the nation finished voting. The unusually high stakes transformed Georgia, once a solidly Republican state, into one of the nation’s premier battlegrounds for the final days of Trump’s presidency — and likely beyond.Both contests tested whether the political coalition that fueled Biden’s November victory was an anti-Trump anomaly or part of a new electoral landscape. To win in Tuesday's elections — and in the future — Democrats needed strong African American support.Drawing on his popularity with Black voters, among other groups, Biden won Georgia’s 16 electoral votes by about 12,000 votes out of 5 million cast in November.Trump's claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election, while meritless, resonated with Republican voters in Georgia. About 7 in 10 agreed with his false assertion that Biden was not the legitimately elected president, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 3,600 voters in the runoff elections.Election officials across the country, including the Republican governors in Arizona and Georgia, as well as Trump’s former attorney general, William Barr, have confirmed that there was no widespread fraud in the November election. Nearly all the legal challenges from Trump and his allies have been dismissed by judges, including two tossed by the Supreme Court, where three Trump-nominated justices preside.Even with Trump’s claims, voters in both parties were drawn to the polls because of the high stakes. AP VoteCast found that 6 in 10 Georgia voters say Senate party control was the most important factor in their vote.Even before Tuesday, Georgia had shattered its turnout record for a runoff with more than 3 million votes by mail or during in-person advance voting in December. Including Tuesday’s vote, more people ultimately cast ballots in the runoffs than voted in Georgia’s 2016 presidential election.In Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood, 37-year-old Kari Callaghan said she voted “all Democrat” on Tuesday, an experience that was new for her.I’ve always been Republican, but I’ve been pretty disgusted by Trump and just the way the Republicans are working,” she said. “I feel like for the Republican candidates to still stand there with Trump and campaign with Trump feels pretty rotten. This isn’t the conservative values that I grew up with.”But 56-year-old Will James said he voted “straight GOP.”He said he was concerned by the Republican candidates’ recent support of Trump’s challenges of the presidential election results in Georgia, “but it didn’t really change the reasons I voted.”“I believe in balance of power, and I don’t want either party to have a referendum, basically,” he said.___Peoples reported from New York. Bynum reported from Savannah, Ga. Associated Press writers Haleluya Hadero, Angie Wang, Sophia Tulp, Ben Nadler and Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Dylan Stableford-here things stand
• Democrat Raphael Warnock was declared the winner over Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler at 2:01 a.m. ET.
• We are still awaiting a call in the race between GOP Sen. David Perdue and challenger Jon Ossoff. Current tracking slightly favors the Democrat, but the contest could be close enough to trigger an automatic recount if the final margin is within .5 percentage points. On Wednesday morning, Ossoff declared victory.
• If Warnock and Ossoff both win, Democrats will hold an edge because Vice President-elect Kamala Harris can cast any tiebreaking votes.
• President Trump, who campaigned for both GOP candidates on Monday, claimed without evidence that election officials were planning to rig the vote count against them.
• Trump is scheduled to speak at a rally protesting the results of the presidential election at 11 a.m. ET.
• Congress is convening in a joint session at 1 p.m. ET to count electoral votes certifying Joe Biden's victory.
• Some of Trump's Republican allies say they will object to the certification.

Yahoo News-How Congress will count up Biden's Electoral College victory-Crystal Hill·Reporter-Tue, January 5, 2021, 8:59 PM EST

The 2020 presidential election will likely reach a decisive conclusion this week as the new Congress begins counting the Electoral College votes on Wednesday, a process that experts say could potentially last days.President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory isn’t in doubt. President Trump nevertheless has spread a steady stream of misinformation about the election itself and Wednesday’s proceedings.Here’s how the count will play out in Congress.The Democratic-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate will convene at 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday to receive and count the electoral votes from the states and address and resolve any objections to the votes. Biden is expected to be certified as the winner, after receiving 7 million more votes than Trump and clear victories in enough battleground states to win the Electoral College.With few exceptions, the counting process has historically been a polite affair, election experts said Tuesday in a press briefing with reporters. But with roughly a dozen Republican lawmakers vowing to make the unusual move of objecting to states’ whole slates of electors, the count may be fraught with disagreements, fueling the false notion, spread fervently by Trump and his allies, that the election was rigged.One thing experts are sure of is that there will be a newly certified president before Jan. 20, the final day of the current presidency. And it won’t be Trump.“I don’t see any real potential for [objectors] to change the outcome,” Paul M. Smith, an election expert at Georgetown University Law Center and the vice president for litigation and strategy at the Campaign Legal Center, told Yahoo News. “It’s very clear that there’s a majority in both houses to support the counting of the Biden electors from the six disputed states [Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada].”Normally, the vice president acts as the presiding officer, a largely symbolic role, over the event to maintain order. The count starts after pages bring in ceremonial boxes full of votes from the states. Then, alphabetically, the states’ votes are counted.Assuming Vice President Mike Pence presides over the count, each state’s vote count and the attached certifications from the state governors and election officials will be presented to Pence, who will then hand the votes (in an envelope) to one of the four tellers selected to receive them, according to Trevor Potter, president of the Campaign Legal Center.The tellers are two Republicans and two Democrats from each legislative chamber — the ranking and minority members on the Senate Rules Committee and the House Administration Committee. This year the tellers should be Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Reps. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.Their job, Potter said, is to open the envelopes and read the vote totals, stating that they appear to be properly given. At that stage, any member can rise from their seat and object to the vote. The objector is then asked to detail the objection, and is also asked if it’s in writing and if it’s signed by a member of the House and a member of the Senate.If the objection doesn’t meet that standard, then it’s ruled out of order. For example, during the count in 2017, multiple Democratic House representatives objected to the vote, citing Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, which Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton lost to Trump, CNN reported. But none of the lawmakers had the required Senate member signature.If an objection does clear that hurdle, it is received by the presiding officer. Then the two chambers divide and separately debate the objection, for no longer than two hours, during which the objector presents arguments that support the dissent.This procedure is what theoretically could prolong the process, if both chambers end up having to discuss multiple objections. Last week Trump loyalist Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., announced that he will object during the process — on the grounds that he believes some states failed to follow their own election laws — and call for an investigation into potential fraud and election irregularities. At least a dozen other like-minded senators are expected to join him.A spokesperson for Biden’s transition team told Yahoo News that the planned objections “won’t change the fact that President-elect Biden will be sworn in on [Jan. 20], and these baseless claims have already been examined and dismissed by Trump’s own attorney general, dozens of courts and election officials from both parties.”Rebecca Green, co-director of William & Mary Law School’s Election Law Program, said that any attempt to somehow hand Trump a reelection by trying to “run out the clock” won’t succeed.“I think we should expect things [to] take longer,” Green told reporters on Tuesday, noting that COVID restrictions may also affect how lawmakers can gather. “But the debate is limited by law to two hours. If the vote-counting session lasts for five days, that is, if it lasts past Monday, Congress is required to finish the counting without recessing until it is complete.”After the debate, there is a vote in each chamber. Then the Senate comes back to the House, and officers of the two chambers announce the results of the debate and the vote. If both chambers have refused to accept the objections, then the votes are counted. But if one chamber has objected and not the other, then under the Electoral Count Act — a federal law that sets the procedures for counting the electoral votes — the vote that was certified by that state’s governor is valid.This process continues with each state until the end, when the presiding officer announces how many electoral votes were cast, received and accepted, and which candidate got how many votes, and then announces who has won the presidency and the vice presidency.In accordance with the election results, the final count will hand Biden 306 electoral votes and Trump 232. But the potential for a controversy looms large over Wednesday’s vote, including the possibility that pro-Trump electors send in their own slate of votes, which would not be revealed until Wednesday. However, Potter said if that were to happen, it’s unlikely that those votes would even be accepted and read out by the teller, because they were not sent by a state.Pence has said he would hear the objections, but stopped short of saying he would take any further steps, despite public pressure from the Oval Office.On Tuesday, Trump floated the false notion that Pence can accept and reject votes on Wednesday, tweeting that the “vice president has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors.”“There’s really no conceivable legal basis for that,” Smith told Yahoo News. “The only thing that he’s supposed to do is announce the count; the idea that this entire election would all come down to who Pence wants to win is pretty absurd.”If either candidate fails to reach 270 votes (which would occur if enough electors were invalidated), Green said, “then the contingent election takes place, which is a state-by-state vote in the House.” The 12th Amendment gives each state congressional delegation one vote to determine the presidency. The vice president would be chosen by the Senate.And if for some reason there’s still no decision by noon on Jan. 20 — an even more far-fetched scenario — then the 20th Amendment requires an acting president, which would be the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, according to Green.Even with the added drama, Potter said he believes there are “more than enough” Republican senators and House members who have indicated they expect to recognize the duly certified votes from the states.“So unless people change their minds,” he said, “the result is already visible.”

Mike Pence faces biggest loyalty test in announcing Trump's loss during a special session of Congress-Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY-Wed, January 6, 2021, 9:02 AM EST

WASHINGTON – Vice President Mike Pence began the Trump administration tasked with investigating Donald Trump’s baseless claims that millions of illegally cast ballots cost him the popular vote in 2016.The “election integrity” commission Pence headed quickly faded from view and disbanded months later after uncovering no evidence of widespread voter fraud.Now, Pence is ending his tenure with an even bigger test of whether to support Trump’s spurious election claims.Pence's constitutional role of presiding over the Senate includes the obligation of declaring during a joint session of Congress Wednesday that President-elect Joe Biden received more Electoral College votes than Trump.It will be the biggest break with Trump yet for the ever-loyal Pence.Trump, who continues to argue without evidence that he won the election, has urged Pence to unilaterally reject state-certified results that show that Biden won the Electoral College, 306-232.Trump has falsely asserted Pence has the option of blocking Congress from formally accepting the results. However, Pence has informed the president that he intends to carry out his constitutional role and that he does not believe the law gives him the authority to do otherwise, according to reports from the New York Times and other outlets.Trump – but not Pence – denied the reports. Trump asserted in a statement late Tuesday that he and Pence "are in total agreement that the Vice President has the power to act.""If Vice President @Mike_Pence comes through for us, we will win the Presidency," Trump tweeted early Wednesday morning.Pence's office did not immediately respond to a request for a response to Trump's comments.The rules may not matter to Trump’s supporters, some of whom apparently believe Pence can do as he wants.“We need you to do the right thing Jan. 6!" a Trump supporter yelled at Pence during a rally Monday for the Senate runoff races in Georgia.The Supreme Court twice refused to take up Trump-endorsed lawsuits that sought to overturn the results of the Nov. 3 election. Federal and state courts dismissed Trump's claims of voter fraud more than 60 times. And recounts in Georgia and Wisconsin upheld Biden's victories in those states.In addition to prevailing in the Electoral College, Biden won the popular vote by more than 7 million votes.Breaking with Trump could hurt Pence’s chances of inheriting his mantle to run for president himself in four years.But Pence – a history major who reveres the Constitution and said he gets "chills" when he visits Independence Hall – also has to be hyper aware of how history will judge his actions.Even if Pence stays within the law, he will share with Trump the blame and criticism for a manufactured crisis because he did not counter the president’s disinformation campaign about widespread election fraud, said Timothy Naftali, a presidential historian at New York University.“It’s not enough to say President Trump has put Vice President Pence in a tough spot,” Naftali said. “I think Vice President Pence has put himself in a tough spot.”Looking ahead to 2024-Trump’s refusal to concede has divided the Republican Party, including those eyeing a possible bid for the White House in 2024.“The party is in the process of tearing itself apart,” GOP pollster Frank Luntz said Tuesday on CNBC.Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., whom Pence made an extra effort to help elect in 2018, was the first GOP senator to announce he would object to the Electoral College results.Vice President Mike Pence meets with his chief of staff, Marc Short, at the White House on Jan. 4, 2020.Pence, as he has throughout the presidency, has tried to strike a balance between remaining loyal to Trump while not parroting his most divisive rhetoric and unfounded claims.Pence did not support an unsuccessful lawsuit aimed at giving him the authority to decide which states’ Electoral College votes to count. But he “welcomed” the efforts of lawmakers to “use the authority they have under the law to raise objections and bring forward evidence.”Pence described his actions as making sure all “legal votes” are counted without acknowledging that states and courts have found no widespread irregularities in the election. He hasn't addressed Trump's effort Saturday to strong-arm Georgia officials to overturn his election defeat in that state.Audiotape: Trump pressures Georgia secretary of state to 'find' votes.In his only public comments about Wednesday's proceedings, Pence promised Trump supporters on Monday: “We’ll hear the objections. We’ll hear the evidence.”He stopped short of saying he would do anything other than follow the prescribed rules in doing so.“The VP’s role under law is purely ministerial,” said Norman Eisen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and outside counsel for the nonpartisan Voter Protection Program. “His responsibility is to open the certificates and call for objections in writing signed by at least one senator and one congressperson.”Those objections are certain to fail. They require majority support from both the Democrat-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate.Will Pence 'do his duty'? An Indiana Republican who requested anonymity to speak freely said Pence is doing what many other Republicans have done for four years – keeping his head down and hoping that everything will work out.Though the Republican expects Pence to “do his duty,” he said he would not be surprised if Pence steps off stage for the final vote total announcement.Pence could hand the gavel to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who would become the presiding officer as the most senior member of the majority party in the Senate.Vice presidential scholar Joel Goldstein said that “would be pretty miserable behavior” on Pence’s part. Most vice presidents who have announced the results of their own defeat recognized the importance to democracy of gracefully accepting their loss and offering support to the victors, he said.“To preside but boycott stating the result would make clear that pleasing Trump is more important to Pence than communicating that basic and traditional democratic message,”Donald Trump congratulates vice presidential candidate Mike Pence at the 2016 Republican National Convention.What past VPs have done-Richard Nixon and Al Gore both received standing ovations after declaring their opponents the winner when, as sitting vice presidents, they had to certify their own presidential losses.Nixon said he could not think of "a more striking and eloquent example of the stability of our constitutional system."In 2017, when some House Democrats tried to raise complaints about Russian election interference and voter suppression allegations, Biden repeatedly ruled them out of order."There is no debate. There is no debate,” Biden said as he wielded the gave.Dramatic moments: Congress' count of Electoral College votes could be most contentious in 144 years.Pence’s spokesman Devin O'Malley declined to say whether the vice president intends to oversee all of the vote counting proceedings, including declaring the winner.Former Rep. Mark Souder said Pence has consistently bent his own record to accommodate Trump but is probably still not considered 100% loyal by Trump’s core supporters. Backing Trump’s claims to the end would probably not be enough to become the most “pro-Trump future candidate,” the Indiana Republican said, and it would end the chance for Pence to expand his potential political base, as well as compromising the basic integrity of the office he has been honored to hold.“Within these parameters, the vice president has been walking a fine line,” said Souder, a Republican. “Now he will have to choose.”-Pence has limits-Former Indiana Rep. David McIntosh, a close friend of Pence’s, said the vice president wants to do everything he can to support Trump and believes there were irregularities in the election that need to be corrected. But there are limits to how far he’ll go.“He's going to perform his role and not go beyond that to try to exert power that he doesn't have,” said McIntosh, head of the conservative Club for Growth.McIntosh tried to relieve some of the pressure Pence faces by running ads to counter those aired by the Lincoln Project. The anti-Trump group trolled the president and vice president by warning that Pence “will put the nail in your political coffin when he presides over the Senate vote to prove Joe Biden won.”The Club for Growth’s ads proclaimed, “Mike Pence stays true. … Always has. Always will.”“The main audience was the president,” said McIntosh, who heard that the Lincoln Project ads had gotten to Trump. “We wanted to correct the record.”As Trump publicly pressured Pence on Monday to ignore the law, he alternated his entreaties with praise for Pence as a smart man who calls it straight.“Of course, if he doesn’t come through, I won’t like him quite as much,” Trump said during a rally in Georgia before adding, “No, Mike is a great guy.”Long-term impacts-Pence's longtime friend Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, said the relationship that Pence built with Trump is strong enough to withstand Pence’s expected decision to follow the rules Wednesday.“He has been an indispensable governing partner to this president and his team,” Reed said. “There is a tremendous and deep personal regard for him.”Reed said Pence’s “overriding priority” will be to “do the right thing and let the verdict of history take care of itself.”Assuming Pence does not ignore the law Wednesday, his presiding over the congressional certification of Trump’s defeat may not become a big part of his legacy, said Lindsay Chervinsky, a presidential historian and author of “The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution.”“But certainly, his acceptance and flirtation and sort of careful cultivation of these ideas that maybe the election was rigged will be a big part of his biography,” she said. “They're trying to overthrow the democracy. And so I think that he will be remembered as participating in that.”This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mike Pence faces biggest loyalty test in announcing Trump's loss

CBC-Hospital figures reach pandemic highs as Ontario reveals more details about vaccine rollout-Tue., January 5, 2021, 3:13 p.m. EST

The Ontario government has unveiled a plan to vaccinate all long-term care residents, workers and essential caregivers in the hard-hit areas of Toronto, Peel, York and Windsor-Essex by Jan. 21.The announcement comes amid mounting criticism around the pace of Ontario's rollout of the vaccine and on a day when the province saw more than 3,000 new cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations reached pandemic highs.Provincial health professionals have called for a "greater sense of urgency" in administering doses and have questioned why the province has only used about a third of its vaccine supply.On Tuesday, Premier Doug Ford and retired general Rick Hillier, tasked with overseeing Ontario's vaccinations plan, said things would be speeding up soon."It might take us a week, maybe a couple of weeks to ramp up, but once we get the machine going, we kick butt anywhere in the country," Ford said.As of Monday, the province had received 148,350 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in all.And, by 9 a.m. on Tuesday, public health officials said 50,495 people in Ontario had received one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at a total of 44 immunization sites. That figure includes more than 26,000 health-care workers in long-term care and retirement homes, about 20,700 other health-care workers and nearly 1,000 residents of long-term care.Further, nearly 3,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine have also been administered, members of the province's vaccine task force said at a morning briefing. About 4,000 additional doses of the Moderna vaccine are expected to be given out in 26 long-term care homes in the first half of this week.Hillier told reporters that the province is now doing 10,000 vaccinations a day.He also said the province had been holding back doses of the Pfizer vaccine to ensure there were adequate numbers available for people's second shots, but that Ontario will have used up its initial shipment by this weekend.A new shipment is arriving in Ontario this week, while a new shipment of Moderna vaccines is set to arrive next week.Pfizer vs. Moderna-The Pfizer-BioNTech shot is largely being given out in hospitals to health-care workers due to its storage requirements, while the Moderna shot is being used in long-term care homes.The officials said, however, that a pilot project is currently underway in Ottawa to explore how the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine may be brought into long-term care facilities to accelerate its delivery. Protocols will be developed this week, the officials said.On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed concern about long-term care outbreaks in Ontario specifically, saying during the same news conference that "now is the time, with the new year upon us, to really accelerate."Meanwhile, doses of the Moderna vaccine are expected to begin arriving in some Indigenous communities this week. A collaboration between Ornge, Ontario's air ambulance service, and the Nishnawbe Aski Nation will see doses distributed to 31 mainly remote communities in the coming weeks.Hillier said vaccines will arrive at smaller long-term care homes along the coast of James Bay in northeastern Ontario on Thursday and Friday, and in the northwestern town of Sioux Lookout, Ont. on Friday.Health-care workers administering the immunizations will be vaccinated beforehand, officials said.You can read a summary of the province's updated vaccine rollout plan at the bottom of this story.7-day case average tops 3,000-Ontario reported another 3,128 cases of COVID-19 and 51 more deaths of people with the illness on Tuesday, as the number of active infections and hospitalizations in the province both reached pandemic highs.There are now 25,840 confirmed, active cases of the illness throughout Ontario, and the seven-day average of new daily cases surpassed 3,000 for the first time.Further, there are 1,347 people with COVID-19 in hospitals, 157 more than yesterday, which was the previous record.Of those, 352 are being treated in intensive care and 245 require the use of a ventilator, both also all-time highs in Ontario.Public health officials have said that about 350 admissions to Ontario's ICUs is the threshold for when hospitals must begin postponing or even cancelling non-COVID-19 related care and procedures.Meanwhile, Ontario's network of labs processed just 35,152 test samples for the novel coronavirus — despite capacity for tens of thousands more — and reported a test positivity rate of 9.4 per cent.The new cases reported today include 778 in Toronto, 614 in Peel Region, 213 in York Region, 172 in Durham Region and 151 each in Middlesex-London and Hamilton.Other public health units that saw double- or triple-digit increases were:Windsor-Essex: 142 - Waterloo Region: 129 - Halton Region: 128 - Ottawa: 126 - Niagara Region: 101 - Simcoe Muskoka: 72 - Lambton: 62 - Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph: 46 - Eastern Ontario: 45 - Chatham-Kent: 39 - Southwestern: 35 - Brant County: 29 - Huron Perth: 21 - Haldimand-Norfolk: 18-(Note: All of the figures used in this story are found on the Ministry of Health's COVID-19 dashboard or in its Daily Epidemiologic Summary. The number of cases for any region may differ from what is reported by the local public health unit, because local units report figures at different times.)-Combined, the new cases reported today push the seven-day average to 3,065.No Ford news conference today-Though he made remarks on his way into a vaccine task-force meeting on Tuesday, Ford did not hold a news conference. It has been 14 days since Ford last took questions from the media.During that time in Ontario, there have been more than 37,000 new COVID-19 cases, the number of people hospitalized has increased by 34 per cent and 542 more people have died.Ford also hasn't answered detailed questions about the actions of his former finance minister, Rod Phillips, who travelled to St. Bart's over the holidays and resigned after returning home to Ontario.Field hospital opens in Burlington-Ontario's first field hospital built during the pandemic is taking patients this week as COVID-19 infections strain the health-care system.The Burlington facility, built on the grounds of Joseph Brant Hospital, was ready to treat patients as of Monday.The hospital said it's responding to increased pressure on hospital capacity across the southern Ontario region that includes Hamilton, Niagara, Haldimand County and Burlington.Rob MacIsaac, CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences, said opening the field hospital is a necessary step as the health-care system is stretched to its limits.Hospitals in the region are identifying patients whose care has progressed enough to be treated at the field unit, after consulting with their families.The field hospital was built in April as part of the hospital network's capacity plan.A summary of Ontario's COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan: