House members representing Mid-Missouri vote to uphold Electoral College objections

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The three members of the U.S. House representing Mid-Missouri each voted to support objections to Electoral College vote certification in two battleground states.

Reps. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, and Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, each voted in favor of the objections in a joint session of Congress that started Wednesday and continued into Thursday morning.

The normally ceremonial joint session in the U.S. Capitol was abruptly stopped Wednesday afternoon as rioters supporting President Donald Trump breached the Capitol. They gained access to the Senate chamber and tried to get into the House chamber but were held off by armed police and security. One woman died after being shot.

Several members of Congress dropped their plans to support objections to certifying Electoral College votes after the violence. However, Mid-Missouri's House delegation voted in favor of objections to the certification of totals from Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Each had pledged before Wednesday's session that they would object.

Hartzler said in a statement that the storming of the Capitol and President Trump's "unpresidential remarks" made it "hard to object" to the certification. She said she supported the objections because of states not following their own voting laws and harming election integrity.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., also carried on with his planned objection to the vote count in Pennsylvania, touching off a debate in each chamber. The objection failed. Hawley was one of just six senators to vote to uphold the objection to Arizona's results earlier in the night.

Despite the objections Congress certified Democratic President-elect Joe Biden's 306-232 Electoral College win. Biden is set to be sworn in Jan. 20.