POLL: Do You Think Tuberville Should Oppose Election Results?

Tuscaloosa AL

05 January, 2021

11:31 AM

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TUSCALOOSA, AL — As the U.S. Senate is set to take up the Electoral College vote count for the 2020 presidential election on Wednesday, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, has thrown his support behind a group of senators who plan to contest the election results and request an audit of swing states before Inauguration Day. The 2020 presidential election ultimately saw Democrat Joe Biden garner 306 electoral college votes compared to President Donald Trump's 232, as the country reported historic turnout for both candidates. Click here to vote in our poll Despite widespread claims by Republicans of voter fraud and other improprieties across the country, much of which focuses on expanded mail-in voting due to the coronavirus pandemic, little in the way of evidence has been provided to back up the accusations. This lack of evidence has some Republicans, including longtime Sen. Richard Shelby, of Alabama, likely to vote in favor of certifying the results. "Although I didn't like the outcome of the election, I think the election's over," Shelby told reporters in Washington last week, all but outright signaling his support for certifying the election results. Click here to subscribe to our daily email newsletters and breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox and mobile devices for free. You can also support local journalism by donating as little as $5 a month to become a supporting member or by downloading our free Patch mobile app Tuberville has been hawkish on behalf of the president, though. The former Auburn football coach entering his first term after being sworn in on Sunday announced this week he had joined a Republican effort led by Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, and other ardent supporters of President Trump as they gear up to fight the final certification of the vote. Cruz's push aims to petition Congress for the immediate appointment of an Electoral Commission, with full investigatory and fact-finding authority, to conduct an emergency 10-day audit of the election returns in the disputed states. The joint statement from those opposing the certification on Wednesday said once the audit is completed, individual states would evaluate the Commission's findings and could convene a special legislative session to "certify a change in their vote, if needed." One of these states is Georgia, which flipped blue for President-elect Biden on Nov. 3 by a narrow margin. Election officials in the Peach State have been in the news in recent days, following Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger releasing audio from an hour-long call with the president. During the conversation, Trump repeatedly pressured Raffensperger, at one point requesting that he "find" enough votes in the state to overturn Trump's November election defeat. Raffensperger, a Republican, previously conducted a recount in Georgia and has insisted since Election Night that the voting system's integrity was never compromised. This has proven little comfort to Republicans, including Tuberville, who has been an outspoken supporter of the president through the myriad controversies of the last four years. He has been much more closely aligned with Trump than Shelby, the 86-year-old stalwart of the Senate establishment, which will likely be reflected in the two differing on their support. "We've heard the concerns of millions of Americans - including voters from all corners of my home state of Alabama - about the way the Presidential Election was conducted," Tuberville said in a Facebook post this week. "It's especially concerning that some states allegedly failed to properly handle the election according to their own duly enacted state laws." As of Monday, the Washington Post reported that 13 senators currently oppose certification, while 26 have said they will support it. The newspaper also reports 16 senators remain unclear on how they move. Follow Patch here for updates or on Facebook and Twitter.