Vice President Kamala Harris is nearing a potential head-to-head battle with former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. Whether she wins or loses, Harris could have one of the most important tasks of certifying the election results.
What Happened: With President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 presidential election, Harris is likely to receive the Democratic Party nomination.
Harris will continue to serve in her role while campaigning ahead of the 2024 election. In January 2025, when her term as vice president concludes, she will undertake an important task for the 2024 election.
As vice president, Harris will preside over Congress to certify the outcome of the 2024 election.
On Jan. 6, 2025, Harris and Congress will count the electoral votes and certify that either herself or Trump has won the election and will become the 47th president of the United States.
Harris has said she won't interfere with the results and her role on Jan. 6 is purely ceremonial, according to spokesperson Kirsten Allen in a comment to Politico. This marks the first time Harris' team has confirmed her commitment to certifying the results explicitly, according to the report.
Vice presidents overseeing their party losing in a presidential election has happened before, but with Harris potentially winning or losing, the certification process could become a pivotal event in the election.
One lawyer told Politico that Harris’s role in the certification process contrasts sharply with the 2020 election, highlighting its importance.
"Vice president Harris is saying she won't seize unconstitutional powers," Stanford University's Constitutional Law Center fellow Matthew Seligman said. "She's not going to burn the system down in order to save it."
Read Also: Trump Vs. Harris: Vice President Gains Ground Lost By Joe Biden In Swing States
Why It's Important: The 12th amendment limits the power the vice president has during the election certification process, but it became a key topic during the 2020 election.
The 2020 election certification process proved to be a central topic, with Trump pressuring former Vice President Mike Pence not to certify the results due to alleged issues with votes and ballot counting.
Pence went on to certify the results of the 2020 election. The attack on the U.S. Capitol happened on Jan. 6, 2021 and coincided with the certification of the election. A mob of angry Trump supporters protested the election results, chanting "Hang Mike Pence" in response to his certification actions.
A falling out between Pence and Trump happened after the events and has led to Trump not having Pence back on his 2024 presidential ticket.
Trump's vice-presidential selection J.D. Vance has said that he would have listened to Trump and potentially tried to block the certification process in the 2020 election if he were vice president at the time.
The 2024 certification process will also be the first to happen since Biden signed the 2022 Electoral Count Reform Act, which added details to the vice president's role in the event and made it harder for Congress to challenge states' certified electors.
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