Constitutional experts and courts have rejected the argument.
A day before Congress formally counts Electoral College votes, President Donald Trump on Tuesday insisted Vice President Mike Pence can toss out electors on his own, an unprecedented idea rejected by most legal exports but that’s been grasped onto by Trump as a last-ditch effort to overturn the election results — though it remains unclear whether Pence will follow his wishes. Most constitutional scholars have rejected the notion that the sitting vice president can control the outcome of a presidential race. According to the Constitution and federal law, Pence’s role during the Electoral College counting process is limited to opening the certificates sent by each state’s electors and presiding over both houses of Congress, and he doesn’t have any direct power to unilaterally reject votes he personally dislikes.
