Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott announced that he would introduce a bill to establish an election integrity commission, which would examine the integrity of the 2020 presidential election amid claims of election fraud.
Scott’s introduction of the bill will coincide with Congress’ counting of the Electoral College votes Wednesday, which will certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win against President Donald Trump. The commission would make “recommendations to State legislatures to improve the security, integrity, and administration of federal elections,” the press release, released Tuesday, said.
Tomorrow, I will introduce a bill establishing the Election Integrity Commission.
Read more here: https://t.co/9ByPpxubon
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) January 5, 2021
Federal election officials have continued to deny allegations of widespread voter fraud raised by President Donald Trump’s campaign after issuing a Nov. 12 statement that called the 2020 election the “most secure in American history.”
Specifically, the committee would study how the coronavirus pandemic impacted the election, and how it may have led to widespread concern surrounding fraud.
The use of mail-in and absentee ballots surged in 2020 as millions of Americans opted not to vote in person. The committee, according to the statement, would study mail-in, absentee and vote-by-mail procedures, as well as potential fraud with the goal of submitting two reports: one that would highlight fraud on a precinct-by-precinct basis, and a final report that would include recommendations for local and state governments to mitigate fraud and bolster security.
“We cannot move forward without looking back and scrutinizing the issues that led to millions of Americans losing trust in our election system,” the statement said.
“While every election has a modicum of fraud, the circumstances around the pandemic led multiple states to make rushed and perhaps ill-planned changes to their election systems weeks ahead of the presidential election,” the statement continued.
In the months leading up to the election, nearly 50% of American voters expressed that they believed mail-in voting is likely to result in significant fraud, while 43% believed adequate protections are in place to prevent fraud, according to a July Washington Post/ABC poll.
Allegations of election fraud have continued into the new year, as Biden is slated to assume office and President Donald Trump has not conceded the election.
Scott announced Tuesday that he would not object during Congress’s counting of the Electoral College vote, joining the ranks of multiple other fellow GOP senators including Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and Ohio Sen. Rob Portman. (RELATED: Sen. Tim Scott Says He Will Vote To Certify Biden’s Win, Will Not Oppose Electoral Vote Count On January 6)
SCOOP: GOP Sen. Tim Scott will vote to certify Biden’s Electoral College win, refusing to join the growing number of Republicans planning to object to the process, Axios has learned.https://t.co/9y9VwBHLEE
— Axios (@axios) January 5, 2021
At least a dozen senators have announced that they would object during Congress’s counting, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, who have said that legislators have an obligation to assess whether election fraud occurred in the election.
The Trump campaign and Republican surrogates have filed around 40 lawsuits trying to overturn the election results since Nov. 3 without winning a single one for lack of evidence. The Washington Post reported that 86 judges going all the way from state courts to the U.S. Supreme Court have thrown out legal challenges from the Trump campaign.