The way it "normally" works, is State Legislatures appoint two SLATES of ELECTORS (one DEM, one REP) before Election Day. Then, whichever side wins the public's votes on Election Day for POTUS/VP; that's the party's who's SLATE is "certified" by the Sec of that State & Governor of that State. [This process btw violates what is written in the US Constitution, but it's what nearly everyone does for awhile, particularly since 3 USC 1 etc was passed and took effect in June 1948, which is why/how Dem President Truman "won" his re-election in Nov 1948 with post-midnight ballot dumps as well.]
So by US Constitution, congress can set when the Electors do their voting for Potus & VP; this was/is set as Dec 14th.
So in these 5-ish "battleground" States (aka the Dem Fraud/Cheating States), on Dec 14th, both the DEM and REP SLATES of ELECTORS did their voting.
So now these States have two sets of Electors votes signed & sealed & sent into DC to be opened on Jan 6th.
So Trump for POTUS ( & Pence for VP ) has over 270 Elector Votes to win, if open/count the Republican Elector SLATES.
How will there be no 270 votes for anyone?
If both the DEM & Republican SLATES get tossed out, means these "battleground" States will have sent zero "legit/legal" Electoral Votes; thus no one will likely have the 270 required; and this means it goes to the "contingent voting" by the House (for POTUS) and Senate (for VP).
In the US Constitution, as per Article 3's (Vesting clause), it is the judiciary's job to "judge"/decide these things as it is with any violations of the Law/US Constitution. These is still 1 week left for the judiciary to do their job on this Elector matter. (Unless the judiciary strikes down the 20th Amendment in the next week, which would unamend the US Constitution and restore the March date rather than the January Date for all this to occur; which isn't on anyone's radar atm.)
So in these 5-ish "battleground" States (aka the Dem Fraud/Cheating States), on Dec 14th, both the DEM and REP SLATES of ELECTORS did their voting.
So now these States have two sets of Electors votes signed & sealed & sent into DC to be opened on Jan 6th.
So Pence can consider these "alternate slate of electors" even if it was just a small number of State Legislators (30 out of 100, or whatever small minority) that got together and sent it to him? Does not require a majority of State legislature in order to be a valid Slate?
Yes. Both the (DEM & REP) SLATES have had their names selected by their State Legislatures. Both SLATES have voted on Dec 14th. Both SLATES have signed and sealed their tallies as required in the US Constitution. Now obviously, both SLATES are not (cannot be) legal/constitutional at the same time; one or both are illegal/unconstitutional.
So Pence, like any government official, can do or not do things; in the name of upholding their Oath of Office to the US Constitution. And if people don't like that, they can sue him one way or the other. If Pence has been informed/knows there's fraud/cheating with a State's Electors, he can have the issue looked into before becoming part of the DEM fraud/cheat/steal (just as the governors could look into it before "certifying" which "governors certifying" btw is not in the Constitution.
Pence or anyone else along the chain of custody can say, "hey these are fraudulent" and others can say "hey these are real" no different than King Solomon deciding which woman was the real baby's mother; it is a judicial function to decide such things; this is the courts job. Absent a court of law willing to rule on the matter; then it's whatever justice occurs OUTSIDE of a courtroom rather than within (hence one of the whole reasons why courts exist in the firstplace to avoid settling things OUTSIDE or keeping things "unsettled".
To use a bad analogy:
It's sort of like if a renter wrote 3 checks the week before Rent was due on the 6th of the month, each on three separate bank accounts. And come time for the landlord to cash one of the checks on the 6th, but the money is only in one of the three accounts. Which account is it in? Is it in the REP account, the DEM account, or the no Slates count account.
This is why in the US Constitution, and the US Code which comes from it; there is NO power for the State Legislatures to "pre-date" their SLATES of ELECTORS. State Legislatures are only "empowered" legally to appoint Electors within the timeframe set by congress (as per the US Constitution). So nominating "SLATES" beforehand, isn't legit (same for afterwards, but again the Constitution isn't being followed either before or after.)
So now there's two SLATES, well, both could be invalid; heck realistically under the US Constitution all the SLATES of ALL the STATES are invalid; which means there's no short list for the joint-session to vote upon in a contingent-election. Which means, the congress would have to do as written in the US Constitution, and tell all the State Legislaturs again the time(day/timeframe) which they have to appoint their State's Electors; and congress (as per the Constitution) to say when(date) those new SLATES are to vote. And to bring those votes to a new joint-session to be opened. This is what the SCOTUS should do if it had the balls to enforce the US Constitution as written.
So Pence, like any government official, can do or not do things; in the name of upholding their Oath of Office to the US Constitution. And if people don't like that, they can sue him one way or the other.
Some are saying that Pence could, for example, throw out both slates of Georgia Electors, based on evidence of fraud.
This would happen even before any objection to Georgia Electors. In this scenario, there would be no slate of Georgia Electors for Congress to object to as Pence would have tossed both slates of Georgia Electors.
Simply having two SLATES is enough to toss out both SLATES from all the States that have dualing Electors; or again, courts can rule on these things too; and State Legislatures can weigh in as well.
The only real course of action that follows the Constitution as written is all Slates are void by all States (Since I dont think a single State Legislature appointed its Electoral SLATE on ELECTION DAY are required by 3 USC 1 and Article 2. And without any vald Elector votes; then the joint-session doesn't have at top 3 shortlist to choose from; hence they can't vote either; and thus; as per the US Constitution, congress can set a new date for "Election Day" for the State Legislatures to do their thing again.
So other than that (or maybe Biden/Harris votes going to zero since they're both ineligible candidates for POTUS); other than these two being the only absolute real "Strict-Constructionist as written Constitutional" option.
So yes, everything else is conceivable! especially if everyone involved keeps making things up or following very unconstitutional laws.
You're welcome and Happy New Year's Eve/Day too!
Quick background:
The way it "normally" works, is State Legislatures appoint two SLATES of ELECTORS (one DEM, one REP) before Election Day. Then, whichever side wins the public's votes on Election Day for POTUS/VP; that's the party's who's SLATE is "certified" by the Sec of that State & Governor of that State. [This process btw violates what is written in the US Constitution, but it's what nearly everyone does for awhile, particularly since 3 USC 1 etc was passed and took effect in June 1948, which is why/how Dem President Truman "won" his re-election in Nov 1948 with post-midnight ballot dumps as well.]
So by US Constitution, congress can set when the Electors do their voting for Potus & VP; this was/is set as Dec 14th.
So in these 5-ish "battleground" States (aka the Dem Fraud/Cheating States), on Dec 14th, both the DEM and REP SLATES of ELECTORS did their voting.
So now these States have two sets of Electors votes signed & sealed & sent into DC to be opened on Jan 6th.
So Trump for POTUS ( & Pence for VP ) has over 270 Elector Votes to win, if open/count the Republican Elector SLATES.
If both the DEM & Republican SLATES get tossed out, means these "battleground" States will have sent zero "legit/legal" Electoral Votes; thus no one will likely have the 270 required; and this means it goes to the "contingent voting" by the House (for POTUS) and Senate (for VP).
In the US Constitution, as per Article 3's (Vesting clause), it is the judiciary's job to "judge"/decide these things as it is with any violations of the Law/US Constitution. These is still 1 week left for the judiciary to do their job on this Elector matter. (Unless the judiciary strikes down the 20th Amendment in the next week, which would unamend the US Constitution and restore the March date rather than the January Date for all this to occur; which isn't on anyone's radar atm.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesting_Clauses
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twentieth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
So Pence can consider these "alternate slate of electors" even if it was just a small number of State Legislators (30 out of 100, or whatever small minority) that got together and sent it to him? Does not require a majority of State legislature in order to be a valid Slate?
Yes. Both the (DEM & REP) SLATES have had their names selected by their State Legislatures. Both SLATES have voted on Dec 14th. Both SLATES have signed and sealed their tallies as required in the US Constitution. Now obviously, both SLATES are not (cannot be) legal/constitutional at the same time; one or both are illegal/unconstitutional.
So Pence, like any government official, can do or not do things; in the name of upholding their Oath of Office to the US Constitution. And if people don't like that, they can sue him one way or the other. If Pence has been informed/knows there's fraud/cheating with a State's Electors, he can have the issue looked into before becoming part of the DEM fraud/cheat/steal (just as the governors could look into it before "certifying" which "governors certifying" btw is not in the Constitution.
Pence or anyone else along the chain of custody can say, "hey these are fraudulent" and others can say "hey these are real" no different than King Solomon deciding which woman was the real baby's mother; it is a judicial function to decide such things; this is the courts job. Absent a court of law willing to rule on the matter; then it's whatever justice occurs OUTSIDE of a courtroom rather than within (hence one of the whole reasons why courts exist in the firstplace to avoid settling things OUTSIDE or keeping things "unsettled".
To use a bad analogy:
It's sort of like if a renter wrote 3 checks the week before Rent was due on the 6th of the month, each on three separate bank accounts. And come time for the landlord to cash one of the checks on the 6th, but the money is only in one of the three accounts. Which account is it in? Is it in the REP account, the DEM account, or the no Slates count account.
This is why in the US Constitution, and the US Code which comes from it; there is NO power for the State Legislatures to "pre-date" their SLATES of ELECTORS. State Legislatures are only "empowered" legally to appoint Electors within the timeframe set by congress (as per the US Constitution). So nominating "SLATES" beforehand, isn't legit (same for afterwards, but again the Constitution isn't being followed either before or after.)
So now there's two SLATES, well, both could be invalid; heck realistically under the US Constitution all the SLATES of ALL the STATES are invalid; which means there's no short list for the joint-session to vote upon in a contingent-election. Which means, the congress would have to do as written in the US Constitution, and tell all the State Legislaturs again the time(day/timeframe) which they have to appoint their State's Electors; and congress (as per the Constitution) to say when(date) those new SLATES are to vote. And to bring those votes to a new joint-session to be opened. This is what the SCOTUS should do if it had the balls to enforce the US Constitution as written.
Some are saying that Pence could, for example, throw out both slates of Georgia Electors, based on evidence of fraud.
This would happen even before any objection to Georgia Electors. In this scenario, there would be no slate of Georgia Electors for Congress to object to as Pence would have tossed both slates of Georgia Electors.
Is that scenario conceivable?
Yes. Anything is conceivable.
Simply having two SLATES is enough to toss out both SLATES from all the States that have dualing Electors; or again, courts can rule on these things too; and State Legislatures can weigh in as well.
The only real course of action that follows the Constitution as written is all Slates are void by all States (Since I dont think a single State Legislature appointed its Electoral SLATE on ELECTION DAY are required by 3 USC 1 and Article 2. And without any vald Elector votes; then the joint-session doesn't have at top 3 shortlist to choose from; hence they can't vote either; and thus; as per the US Constitution, congress can set a new date for "Election Day" for the State Legislatures to do their thing again.
So other than that (or maybe Biden/Harris votes going to zero since they're both ineligible candidates for POTUS); other than these two being the only absolute real "Strict-Constructionist as written Constitutional" option.
So yes, everything else is conceivable! especially if everyone involved keeps making things up or following very unconstitutional laws.
Some of this I already knew. But thanks for this in-depth explanation! However, all of this is theory, I'm excited to see what will happen on Jan 6!