U.S. Senate, House Reject Objection To Arizona Election Results

ARIZONA — Arizona became the first state whose election results were disputed Wednesday during a joint session of Congress to count the electoral votes from the Nov. 3 election. The objection was rejected in both the House and the Senate, hours after it was first brought as demonstrators breached the U.S. Capitol building and disrupted the Democratic process.

U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican, objected to Arizona’s certified election results soon after the joint session began at 1 p.m. eastern time. Gosar said his objection was signed by 60 of his colleagues and a senator, Ted Cruz from Texas. The objection triggered a debate in each separate chamber.

“I rise for myself and 60 of my colleges to object to the count of the electoral ballots from Arizona,” he said.

Shortly after the debates were underway, chaos erupted at the U.S. Capitol as supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the building — forcing both chambers of Congress to go into recess as lawmakers were escorted to safety.

After hours in recess locked down in the Capitol, the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to reject the objection to Arizona's results, guaranteeing the result in President-elect Joe Biden's favor will stand.

The 93-6 vote came after several Republicans who had planned to support the objection reversed course. GOP Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri, Ted Cruz of Texas, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas and John Kennedy of Louisiana all voted against the results.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 303-121 to reject the objection with only Republicans voting in favor of it.

Addressing the scene earlier in the day, Gosar appeared to condemn the events.

For the objection to be sustained, both chambers must agree to it by a simple majority vote. With Democrats in control of the House of Representatives and a majority of Republican Senators saying they will uphold the Electoral College votes certified by the state, the objection was not expected to stand.

Gosar, like many GOP lawmakers, aimed to overturn the election results in favor of President Donald Trump in a long shot bid. Trump lost Arizona to Biden by just over 10,000 votes.

Arizona's election results were certified Nov. 30, with its 11 Electoral College votes going to Biden. Eight lawsuits alleging fraud the state's election integrity, particularly in Maricopa County, have been tossed out by judges. The Arizona Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the dismissal of an election challenge.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs reiterated the fairness and accuracy of the state's election results in a Tuesday tweet ahead of the joint session.

"Arizona's election was secure, fair, and accurate," she wrote. "Our official slate of presidential electors is the one transmitted to Congress by the Secretary of State and governor based on official election results and that is the slate that will be counted tomorrow."

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has also continually stated his faith in Arizona's elections.

To date, there is no evidence of widespread fraud in Arizona's elections.

The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.