The joint sitting of the US House of Representatives and the Senate is headed for an interesting crescendo on January 6. The convening of both these Houses will have to ratify the count of the electoral college votes which until now is 306 to 232 in favour of Joe Biden.
Mike Pence, the Vice President will chair the joint sitting of the two Houses and has the power of interpretation as well as discretion to resolve the matter in a fair and equitable manner.
Donald Trump and the Republicans have not conceded defeat and have set up a task force of Republican Senators termed as ‘The Dirty Dozen’ to spearhead their quest for overturning the result.
The Republicans are also insistent that several disputed states have gone in favour of Joe Biden and if the tally of the disputed states amounts to more than 74 electoral college votes then a deadlock could force Mike Pence to uphold the Republican contention and to annul the results.
Although unprecedented, the atmosphere of a vertical split between the Republicans and the Democrats could end in an eventuality that has until now in American history has no precedence.
