OK, January 6th thread….here we go, its somewhat confusing and kinda a mess so let me try and explain it the best way I can!!

Also keep in mind this is somewhat subjective so not everyone has the same idea on the powers the Vice President holds.

On December the 23rd, Pence sends a letter to all the SOS of the contested states telling them to submit to him the lawfully certified electors.

Pence has the power to decide which of these electors are lawfully certified…there is a difference between certified and lawfully certified.

States that send electoral votes that are being contested in their state legislatures are NOT lawfully certified.

This is where it gets a little muddy because the constitution itself does not give exact details about the power that Pence holds specifically.

All we know is that he is the presiding officer, which gives him ALL the power, but the power to do what?

In my constitutional opinion, As the presiding officer, Pence has all the power and the ability to interpret the statutes and determine which electors are lawful. (This is what is up for debate, some people believe he has that power, others do not)

The session begins at 1 pm, on January 6th. Pence receives the electors, he gets to decide right then and there what electors are lawful and which are not. With state legislatures asking pence to not accept Biden electors, pence has that power.

By not accepting Biden electors in the contested states, this would mean that Biden does not have a majority of electors. Pence does not even need to accept Trump electors, instead, he needs to deny Biden electors.

What this means is that, even if Trump electors are not “certified”, if you deny the “certified” Biden electors, than it does not matter if trumps are not certified.

The next step many people believe is the house would vote for president, however, There is something else...

Article 2, section 1 of the 12th amendment states “  The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed”
https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/article/article-ii

In my opinion, reading that part of the amendment, it means that to win the presidency, someone must only have a majority of legitimate electors, it says nothing about 270. Only a majority of certified and LEGAL electors.

If that is the case, Trump would most likely win the election without a house vote, because denying Biden the electors from the contested states, gives trump a majority of electors, does not matter if Trump reaches 270.

However, if there is a contested election…meaning a majority of electoral votes does not happen then there is a vote in the house for President......

In a house vote for president, each state would become their own delegation of sorts, and each state gets ONE vote. With Republicans having the majority in state governments, Trump would win.