RELEASE:
Chairman Harper Certifies Presidential Electoral Results
WASHINGTON – Today, Committee on House Administration Chairman Gregg Harper (R-Miss.) assisted in the official counting of the Electoral College votes during a Joint Session of the U.S. Congress.
Chairman Harper said: “It is such a privilege to serve as an official teller during today’s counting of the electoral votes for the President and Vice President of the United States. We live in a magnificent country where a peaceful transition of power occurs after every presidential election. This is an exciting time for our great nation and I am so honored to be to a part of such an historic procedure certifying the votes for President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence.”
Background on a Joint Session for Electoral Count:
• Congress is directed by the Constitution to review and count the electoral votes certified by the states in a Joint Session in January in the year following the meeting of the electors.
• The electoral count occurs in a Joint Session in the Hall of the House.
• By tradition, the Speaker of the House and the Senate as a whole appoints the Chairs and Ranking Members of the Committee on House Administration and the Senate Rules Committee to serve as the four official tellers.
• Pursuant to the 12th Amendment, the President of the Senate (the Vice President) presides over the Joint Session where electoral votes are counted.
• The certificates and other papers relating to the electoral count are presented in alphabetical order by state.
• The certificates of votes given by the electors are opened by the President of the Senate and handed to the tellers, who read them in the presence and hearing of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
1/6/17
