The eight Republicans in South Carolina’s congressional delegation are divided on plans by GOP lawmakers to object to the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential win, with a majority supporting the long-shot effort and others questioning the wisdom of seeking to overrule states’ authority.

Congress will meet Wednesday to perform the ordinarily routine task of counting and confirming each state’s certified Electoral College votes, which show Biden defeated Republican incumbent Donald Trump 306 to 232.

Given that Democrats maintain a slim majority in the U.S. House, the outcome of the process is all but certain to leave the result unchanged. But it will produce a day of high-stakes political theater, exposing fissures among Republicans about the extent to which they should continue backing Trump’s refusal to concede.

Four South Carolina Republicans — Reps. Jeff Duncan of Laurens, Ralph Norman of Rock Hill, William Timmons of Greenville and Joe Wilson of Springdale — joined dozens of House members in plans to object, citing debunked and unfounded claims of fraud or changes to election procedures in several key states.

Two other Republicans — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of Seneca and U.S. Rep. Tom Rice of Myrtle Beach — voiced skepticism about the value of objecting but said they would hear out their colleagues during Wednesday’s debates before reaching a final conclusion.

Just one S.C. Republican — newly elected U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace of Charleston — explicitly came out in opposition to the effort, saying she does not believe Congress should intervene in the states’ constitutionally granted role to administer elections.

The only member of South Carolina’s delegation yet to publicly stake out any position at all is U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-North Charleston, who did not respond to requests for comment last week or Monday. 

The objectors

Timmons, Duncan, Norman and Wilson each put out statements offering similar rationales for their plans to object. They argued that changes to voting laws in several key states in the months leading up to Election Day created the possibility of fraud or “irregularities” warranting further investigation.

“The failure to validate signatures, the omission of witnesses, the interruption of counting before completion, the denial of poll watchers for access to fully observe, the extension of ballots received beyond Election Day, and the registration of illegal aliens, allowing non-citizens to vote, are all an open invitation for fraud,” Wilson said.

Election officials in South Carolina and across the county, along with Trump’s own now-former Attorney General Bill Barr, have said they found no evidence of widespread fraud that would change the election’s outcome. Courts have repeatedly dismissed dozens of lawsuits filed by Trump and his allies disputing the results.

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