A group of 11 Republican senators announced on Saturday that they will object to the upcoming certification of Electoral College votes and are calling for an emergency audit of the results, joining Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri.

To wit, Congress should immediately appoint an Electoral Commission, with full investigatory and fact-finding authority, to conduct an emergency 10-day audit of the election returns in the disputed states,” said a statement by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.

“Once completed, individual states would evaluate the Commission’s findings and could convene a special legislative session to certify a change in their vote, if needed,” he added.

The statement is co-signed by Senators Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Steve Daines of Montana, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Mike Braun of Indiana; and Senators-elect Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, and and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.

Hawley said earlier that he will object to the certification of the Electoral College vote, likely assuring lawmakers will have to go through a brief delay before President-elect Joe Biden is declared the 46th president of the United States.

The statement goes on to say that on Wednesday, when Electoral College votes are due to be certified, the senators will vote to “reject the electors from disputed states as not ‘regularly given’ and ‘lawfully certified’ (the statutory requisite), unless and until that emergency 10-day audit is completed.”

The Senate certification vote will come one day after two runoff elections in Georgia, which – if Democrats win both races – would result in a 50-50 split chamber, giving Vice President-elect Kamala Harris tie-breaking power. CURRENTPH