Advocacy groups urge Congress to commit to certifying election results

A broad coalition of advocacy groups called on every member of Congress to commit to certifying the results of the presidential election on Jan. 6, 2025, warning lawmakers in a letter sent Monday that “our most fundamental rights and freedoms will be jeopardized once again” if they don’t accept the outcome.

The letter, first obtained by The Washington Post, comes days after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) hedged when asked if he would commit to certifying the results if former president Donald Trump loses to Vice President Kamala Harris. Johnson answered that he would do so “if we have a free, fair and safe election.”

The House GOP leader’s response echoes Trump’s position that he would accept the outcome only if he considers it fair to him. Trump and his allies continue to falsely insist that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and have been laying the legal and rhetorical groundwork to undermine the results of this year’s contest if he loses. At a campaign rally Friday night, Trump said that the “only way we’re going to lose, because they cheat.”

The letter to lawmakers serves as a reminder that in less than 100 days, Congress will gather to once again certify the presidential election. The largely ceremonial task turned chaotic and deadly when a mob of pro-Trump rioters, trying to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory, stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

More than two dozen groups signed the letter, including voting rights organizations, pro-democracy nonprofits, labor unions and issue advocacy groups. Signatories included Common Cause, Public Citizen, the National Education Association and the League of Conservation Voters.

“We urge you to denounce any attempt to intimidate, harass, threaten, or incite political violence; reject attempts to spread misinformation about the integrity of the United States’ elections; and agree to accept the ultimate outcome of the election, promptly certify the result, and support the peaceful transfer of power,” the letter says. “The last time Members of Congress ignored that duty, lives were lost and a violent mob took over the United States Capitol in an attempt to subvert the will of the American people. That must never happen again.”

Hours after the Capitol was violently breached, 147 Republicans, including Johnson, voted to object to Trump’s loss. Johnson, then a little-known conservative lawmaker, had rallied Republicans behind a failed legal argument that expansion of mail-in voting due to the covid pandemic was unconstitutional and that Biden’s win was therefore illegitimate.

Ahead of this November’s election, Johnson has again suggested the results might not be valid. He has led the charge against noncitizen voting — something that rarely occurs. Last week, the speaker shared on X a Trump Truth Social post that said, “IF YOU VOTE ILLEGALLY, YOU’RE GOING TO JAIL.”

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, told reporters that Johnson’s comment hedging his support for certification “gives us all a bit of heartburn.”

“He was the chief architect of the House Republican legal strategy to turn back a free and fair election. So the metric that he’s using is a little curious,” he said of Johnson during a news conference on Capitol Hill.

If the Republicans retain the House majority and reelect Johnson as speaker, there is little Johnson could do on his own to stop the certification, said David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research.

It is the vice president, not the speaker, who presides over the certification of electors on Jan. 6. That person will be Harris, regardless of who wins the November vote. Congress also passed new safeguards in 2022 clarifying that the vice president’s role on Jan. 6 is ceremonial and that he or she does not have any power to interfere in the proceedings.

The law, known as the Electoral Count Reform Act, also raises the threshold for objecting to certification. In 2021, it took only one lawmaker in each chamber to raise an objection. Now, it requires 20 senators and 87 House members to initiate debate over whether to accept a state’s electors.

“I am 100 percent sure that the person who wins the presidency will take the oath of office on January 20, that the person who wins the most electoral votes in the states will have their hand on the Bible on January 20. I’m confident of that because of the many guardrails we have in place,” Becker said.

Michael Fanone, a former D.C. police officer who was badly injured defending the Capitol on Jan. 6 and has become an outspoken critic of Republicans who continue to sow doubt about the legitimacy of elections, is a member of the nonprofit Courage for America, which organized the letter. He said there is “zero chance” the letter changes any Republicans’ minds but that its intent is to hold accountable those lawmakers who refuse to commit to certifying the election.

“Here we are, the American people demanding that you do your job on January 6,” he said. “And if you can’t commit to that, at least we know, and voters know in your districts that you were someone who put your party and your allegiance to Donald Trump above your community.”