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KMUW News brings you the latest candidate information and resources on how to vote in the 2020 elections.

Kansas GOP Sen. Moran Says He’ll Vote To Certify Biden’s Win

Zach Gibson
/
Getty Images/NPR.org

TOPEKA — Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran said Tuesday that he will vote to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the Electoral College, breaking with President Donald Trump and others in the GOP trying to overturn the result.

Moran’s stance ahead of a joint session of Congress on Wednesday that is expected to confirm the Democratic president-elect’s victory in November also puts Moran at odds with all of the other Republicans in Kansas’ congressional delegation.

Moran plans to seek a third Senate term in 2022.

Trump’s unfounded claims of voter fraud have been rejected roundly by election officials of both parties and judges, including Trump appointees. Moran said Trump had a right to challenge results in court, but “in every instance the judgments were clear” that the evidence wasn’t sufficient to change them.

Moran said that as a conservative, he must "strictly adhere" to the U.S. Constitution and its limited role for Congress.

"To vote to reject these state-certified electoral votes would be to act outside the bounds of the Constitution," Moran said.

He also said voting to reject the electoral votes "would risk undermining our democracy."

"No victory for one’s cause today can be worth what we would lose tomorrow," Moran concluded.

Moran's full statement:

"I am a conservative Republican. Therefore, I must strictly adhere to the United States Constitution. The Constitution clearly limits the role of Congress with respect to presidential elections to the counting of electoral votes that have been certified by the states. The states, consistent with the principles of federalism and a limited national government, possess the sole authority to determine and submit their electors. To vote to reject these state-certified electoral votes would be to act outside the bounds of the Constitution, which I will not do.

"President Trump had every right under the Constitution to challenge the results of the election in the courts, and I publicly supported his right to do so given the allegations and reports of irregularities and fraud. But in every instance, the judgments were clear, and no judge or Supreme Court justice – including those appointed by President Trump – determined there was evidence sufficient to change the results of the election.

"Support of the institutions and legal processes established in the Constitution by those who founded this exceptional American Republic are necessary to preserve our most cherished American values. Voting to object to the electoral process without a constitutional basis to do so may be expedient and lead to short-term political benefits for some, but would risk undermining our democracy – which is built upon the rule of law and separation of powers. No victory for one’s cause today can be worth what we would lose tomorrow."

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