Vice-president Michael Pence can only open the envelopes from states who have followed its own laws in their handling of the Presidential election. Its own laws meaning law(constitutional or statutor... View MoreVice-president Michael Pence can only open the envelopes from states who have followed its own laws in their handling of the Presidential election. Its own laws meaning law(constitutional or statutory) that were passed by the state legislature!
On January 6th, if objections are raised by any member of both houses(House Of Representatives and US Senate), then both houses should decide which electoral votes from the state in controversy are either lawful or unlawful. If a majority of members from both houses agree that a specific slate of electoral votes are lawful, then that specific slate of electors will be deemed as lawful.
It is possible a majority may not be achieved in either house if there are a dual slate of electors. This is because there are three choices that can be made in this scenario. A federal legislative house can pick one slate of electors by majority. However, a slate of electors may not achieve a majority of votes in a federal legislative house if its members, in choosing not to select either slate of electors as lawful, causes a majority vote for either slate of electors to not be achieved.
Both houses have to agree that votes,from a specific slate of electors from a specific state that has been objected to, are lawful. If this is not the case in which both houses cannot agree on the preceding, then the electoral votes cast by the specific slate of electors that were submitted by the representative of the executive branch is officially counted. The Certificate Of Ascertainment that was previously submitted by that specific representative becomes official.