Vance and Walz find common ground as they spar over policy in their only VP debate

Posted

October 1, 2024 at 11:22 PM EDT

During tonight’s vice presidential debate, Vance was asked about his past comments on the 2020 election, specifically what he has said about asking states to “submit alternative electors” before certifying the election.

The debate over the electors was a major controversy amid the Trump campaign’s broader plan to overturn the results of the 2020 election. That arrangement resulted in several criminal investigations.

Vance was also asked whether, as vice president, he would “challenge this year’s election results, even if every governor certifies the results.”

However, Vance dodged the questions, saying he was “focused on the future” and that “censorship” was a bigger threat to democracy.

But it’s worth highlighting what Vance has said about whether he would approve a vice presidential election, and what he has said about voters.

Just this year, Vance told ABC News that if he had been vice president in 2020, he would not have certified the election as former Vice President Mike Pence did in 2021.

“If I had been vice president, I would have told the states, like Pennsylvania, Georgia and so many others, that we needed multiple electoral rolls, and I think Congress should have fought about it from then on,” Vance said . said. “That’s the legitimate way to deal with an election that many people, including me, think has had a lot of problems in 2020. I think we should have done that.”

Now, there is nothing in the Constitution that gives a vice president the power to force states to have multiple electoral rolls. According to legal experts, it is up to states to decide. And in the case of the 2020 election, there was no reason for states to consider multiple electoral rolls.

And finally, a vice president’s role during certification is largely ceremonial. According to the Brenner Center for Justice, the federal law clarifies “what was already clear to most legal observers: the vice president’s role in the joint session is limited to ‘ministerial duties,’ and he or she does not have the authority to determine its validity. of electoral votes or otherwise ‘settlement of disputes’.”