Reprinted with permission from Alternet

As January 6 approaches, more Republican lawmakers are joining the Trump bandwagon to challenge the Electoral College vote despite having no substantial evidence of widespread voter fraud to suggest the presidential election was rigged.

On Saturday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) along with Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI), James Lankford (R-OK), Steve Daines (R-MT), John Kennedy (R-LA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Mike Braun (R-IN), and Senators-Elect Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) released a statement just days ahead of the Electoral College certification process.

According to Cruz, he and the ten named senators are demanding an "emergency 10-day audit" of the election results. If their demands are not met, they will reject the Electoral College certification affirming President-elect Joe Biden's win.

"We should follow that precedent. 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," the statement reads, "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.

"Accordingly, we intend to vote on January 6 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."

While the senators are requesting for Trump's 75 million voters to be considered, their contradictory stance ignores the 80 million voters who cast ballots for Biden.

"When the voters fairly decide an election, pursuant to the rule of law, the losing candidate should acknowledge and respect the legitimacy of that election," Cruz wrote, adding, "And, if the voters choose to elect a new office-holder, our Nation should have a peaceful transfer of power."

The Republican lawmakers also claimed their actions are "not to thwart the democratic process" although they are aiming to overturn the presidential election without concrete, probable cause for doing so.

"These are matters worthy of the Congress, and entrusted to us to defend. We do not take this action lightly. We are acting not to thwart the democratic process, but rather to protect it," the statement read. "And every one of us should act together to ensure that the election was lawfully conducted under the Constitution and to do everything we can to restore faith in our Democracy."