§15 — Title 3 The President | U.S. Code

Summary

Congress must meet on January 6 at 1:00 p.m. to open and count the electoral votes. The Vice President, as President of the Senate, runs the meeting but only carries out basic, procedural tasks and cannot decide disputes about which electors or certificates are valid. Two tellers from the Senate and two from the House will read the certificates in alphabetical order by State, starting with A. After each certificate is read, the presiding officer will ask for objections. Any objection must be written, signed by at least one‑fifth of the Senators and one‑fifth of the House members who are duly sworn, and must clearly claim one of two things: the State’s electors were not lawfully certified under section 5(a)(1), or one or more electors did not cast a regular vote. If an objection is made, the two Houses separate and vote on it. An objection stands only if both the Senate and the House agree separately. No other State’s votes are dealt with until the objection is finished. Only votes from electors appointed under a section 5 certificate, or lawful replacements under section 4, may be counted. If a State appoints fewer electors than it is entitled to, or if an objection about unlawful certification is sustained, the total number of electors used to decide a majority under the Twelfth Amendment is reduced by that many. The tellers list the votes, and the presiding officer announces the result, which is entered in the official record and is treated as the declaration of who is elected President and Vice President.

Title 3, §15

The President — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Congress shall be in session on the sixth day of January succeeding every meeting of the electors. The Senate and House of Representatives shall meet in the Hall of the House of Representatives at the hour of 1 o’clock in the afternoon on that day, and the President of the Senate shall be their presiding officer.

(b)(1)Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the role of the President of the Senate while presiding over the joint session shall be limited to performing solely ministerial duties.

(2)The President of the Senate shall have no power to solely determine, accept, reject, or otherwise adjudicate or resolve disputes over the proper certificate of ascertainment of appointment of electors, the validity of electors, or the votes of electors.

(c)At the joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives described in subsection (a), there shall be present two tellers previously appointed on the part of the Senate and two tellers previously appointed on the part of the House of Representatives by the presiding officers of the respective chambers.

(d)(1)The President of the Senate shall—

(A)open the certificates and papers purporting to be certificates of the votes of electors appointed pursuant to a certificate of ascertainment of appointment of electors issued pursuant to section 5, in the alphabetical order of the States, beginning with the letter A; and

(B)upon opening any certificate, hand the certificate and any accompanying papers to the tellers, who shall read the same in the presence and hearing of the two Houses.

(2)(A)Upon the reading of each certificate or paper, the President of the Senate shall call for objections, if any.

(B)(i)No objection or other question arising in the matter shall be in order unless the objection or question—

(I)is made in writing;

(II)is signed by at least one-fifth of the Senators duly chosen and sworn and one-fifth of the Members of the House of Representatives duly chosen and sworn; and

(III)in the case of an objection, states clearly and concisely, without argument, one of the grounds listed under clause (ii).

(ii)The only grounds for objections shall be as follows:

(I)The electors of the State were not lawfully certified under a certificate of ascertainment of appointment of electors according to section 5(a)(1).

(II)The vote of one or more electors has not been regularly given.

(C)(i)When all objections so made to any vote or paper from a State, or other question arising in the matter, shall have been received and read, the Senate shall thereupon withdraw, and such objections and questions shall be submitted to the Senate for its decision; and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall, in like manner, submit such objections and questions to the House of Representatives for its decision.

(ii)No objection or any other question arising in the matter may be sustained unless such objection or question is sustained by separate concurring votes of each House.

(D)When the two Houses have voted, they shall immediately again meet, and the presiding officer shall then announce the decision of the questions submitted. No vote or paper from any other State shall be acted upon until the objections previously made to any vote or paper from any State, and other questions arising in the matter, shall have been finally disposed of.

(e)(1)(A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B)—

(i)only the votes of electors who have been appointed under a certificate of ascertainment of appointment of electors issued pursuant to section 5, or who have legally been appointed to fill a vacancy of any such elector pursuant to section 4, may be counted; and

(ii)no vote of an elector described in clause (i) which has been regularly given shall be rejected.

(B)The vote of an elector who has been appointed under a certificate of ascertainment of appointment of electors issued pursuant to section 5 shall not be counted if—

(i)there is an objection which meets the requirements of subsection (d)(2)(B)(i); and

(ii)each House affirmatively sustains the objection as valid.

(2)If the number of electors lawfully appointed by any State pursuant to a certificate of ascertainment of appointment of electors that is issued under section 5 is fewer than the number of electors to which the State is entitled under section 3, or if an objection the grounds for which are described in subsection (d)(2)(B)(ii)(I) has been sustained, the total number of electors appointed for the purpose of determining a majority of the whole number of electors appointed as required by the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution shall be reduced by the number of electors whom the State has failed to appoint or as to whom the objection was sustained.

(3)The tellers shall make a list of the votes as they shall appear from the said certificates; and the votes having been ascertained and counted according to the rules in this subchapter provided, the result of the same shall be delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall thereupon announce the state of the vote, which announcement shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons, if any, elected President and Vice President of the United States, and, together with a list of the votes, be entered on the Journals of the two Houses.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2022—Pub. L. 117–328 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section related to counting electoral votes in Congress.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Counting of Electoral Votes2013—Pub. L. 112–228, § 1, Dec. 28, 2012, 126 Stat. 1610, provided that: “The meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives to be held in January 2013 pursuant to section 15 of title 3, United States Code, to count the electoral votes for President and Vice President cast by the electors in December 2012 shall be held on

January 4, 2013 (rather than on the date specified in the first sentence of that section).” 2009—Pub. L. 110–430, § 2, Oct. 15, 2008, 122 Stat. 4846, provided that: “The meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives to be held in January 2009 pursuant to section 15 of title 3, United States Code, to count the electoral votes for President and Vice President cast by the electors in December 2008 shall be held on

January 8, 2009 (rather than on the date specified in the first sentence of that section).” 1997—Pub. L. 104–296, § 2, Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3558, provided that: “The meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives to be held in January 1997 pursuant to section 15 of title 3, United States Code, to count the electoral votes for President and Vice President cast by the electors in December 1996 shall be held on

January 9, 1997 (rather than on the date specified in the first sentence of that section).” 1989—Pub. L. 100–646, Nov. 9, 1988, 102 Stat. 3341, provided: “That in carrying out the procedure set forth in section 15 of title, 3, United States Code, for 1989, ‘the fourth day of January’ shall be substituted for ‘the sixth day of January’ in the first sentence of such section.” 1985—Pub. L. 98–456, Oct. 9, 1984, 98 Stat. 1748, provided: “That, in carrying out the procedure set forth in section 15 of title 3, United States Code, for 1985, ‘the seventh day of January’ shall be substituted for ‘the sixth day of January’ in the first sentence of such section.”

§15 Counting electoral votes in Congress