GOP Electors in Arizona Cast Votes for President Trump, ‘There’s a Lot of Precedent’

Republican electors in Arizona met on Monday and cast their votes for President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence and sent the results to Congress, Republican Party of Arizona Chairwoman Dr. Kelli Ward announced on Tuesday, emphasizing there is “a lot of precedent” for the move.

“On December 14, the true electors for the presidency met yesterday. Yes — the Republican electors. We gathered together we took a vote for President Trump and for Mike Pence for president and vice president,” Ward said.

“We have transmitted those results to the proper entities in Washington, DC, for consideration by Congress. We believe that we are the electors for the legally cast votes here in Arizona,” she continued, explaining that the move — which Republican electors did in other key swing states — is not without historic precedent, citing what occurred in the election of 1960.

“There’s a lot of precedent, but let’s talk about 1960. In 1960 the Democrat electors for John F Kennedy met despite the fact their governor had certified the election for Richard Nixon,” she explained

“They transmitted their votes and those votes were awarded to President Kennedy 11 days after they cast those votes,” she continued, adding that the election is “far from over” despite the chatter from Democrat talking heads or figures in the Republican establishment:

“The fact is there are a lot of legal challenges out there and this is a contested election. And so stay strong. I thank all of you for fighting for this and for fighting for the 74 million-plus Americans who voted for President Trump in this. We truly are all in this together,” she added.

Republican electors in other key swing states, including Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, made similar moves, some creating an “alternate slate” of electoral votes to keep President Trump’s legal challenges afloat.

As Breitbart News reported:

With the Supreme Court tossing Texas’s case against Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Michigan — a case Trump once referred to as “the big one — his GOP allies are continuing to extend the fight, casting an alternate slate of electoral votes — creating “dueling slates of electors” — in the event of a viable challenge in Congress —  which is needed for such a challenge.

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This occurred in Michigan on Monday, where Republican electors attempted to deliver their votes to the Senate but were reportedly turned away. According to U.S. News, “Trump loyalists in Pennsylvania met in Harrisburg and cast what they described as a ‘conditional vote’ for Trump.” An “alternate Republican slate” also cast ceremonial votes for President Trump in Georgia on Monday. Republicans in Wisconsin, another contested state, reportedly made a similar move.

Andrew Hitt, Chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party, said in a statement that their electors met “to preserve our role in the electoral process while the final outcome is still pending in the courts.”

As of Monday evening, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris formally became president-elect and vice president-elect, respectively. Congress will formally count the votes on January 6.