Daines changes course and will certify election results
Vice President Mike Pence poses for a photo with Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and his wife Cindy Daines in the Old Senate Chamber at the Capitol in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021. (Pete Marovich/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
Sen. Steve Daines has changed course and announced that he will vote to certify the presidential election results, while Rep. Matt Rosendale announced he will continue to object the results.
Daines’ decision comes after a pro-Trump mob swarmed the U.S. Capitol Wednesday in an attempt to obstruct congress from certifying the election results.
“We will not let today’s violence deter Congress from certifying the election. We must restore confidence in our electoral process. We must, and we will, have a peaceful transition of power,” Daines said in a statement about why he will vote to certify the results.
Prior to Wednesday both Daines and Rep. Matt Rosendale said that they would not vote to certify the election results and called for a 10-day audit of election returns, citing unfounded claims of voter fraud and irregularities as their reasoning.
In a statement, Rosendale called today a “terrible day” and condemned he violence at the capitol. But said, “I will not be intimated by mob violence from the left or the right. I will oppose certification of electors from certain disputed states.”