Mark Dayton: “Our role is a very limited one under both the Constitution and under Federal law which was passed and has stood since…”

“Our role is a very limited one under both the Constitution and under Federal law which was passed and has stood since 1887. The role of the House and the Senate is not to adjudicate last November's Presidential election. That should not be our role. Those who want us to insert ourselves into that process are very well intentioned, but the role they envision for us is, in my judgment, inappropriate and potentially even dangerous. Our role today in this joint session of the Senate and the House is one of witnessing the tally of the electoral college vote. If there is an objection, it is based on very limited circumstances. In fact, only once in the entire history of this legislation since 1886, only one time has there been a formal objection made, and that was for one electoral vote cast by one elector who did not vote in the way in which they pledged--in this case, the District of Columbia; not a State, a district. That objection was rejected by the House and the Senate in 1969.”