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WILKES-BARRE &mdash; U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright Wednesday morning said during today&rsquo;s joint session of Congress, he and his colleagues will carry out their duty under the Constitution to count the certified electoral votes.
				Cartwright, D-Moosic, offered his comments ahead of the count the electoral college votes, which was slated to begin at 1 p.m. ET.
				&ldquo;They represent the collective voice of the American people, who chose Joe Biden to serve as the next President of the United States,&rdquo; Cartwright said. &ldquo;Yet, there are members of this body who continue to push unfounded claims of wrongdoing and illegality in this election that have been dismissed in state and federal courts across the country, as justification to object to the ceremonial counting of legal, certified votes. These efforts only needlessly undermine the trust in our democratic system and should be rejected.&rdquo;
				Cartwright said losing an election is not easy for candidates or supporters.
				&ldquo;But the people have spoken, our election processes have been rigorously scrutinized in court, and our independent judiciary has affirmed the results,&rdquo; Cartwright said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s time for us to come together and count the certified electoral votes in keeping with our Constitution, which all Members of Congress swore to support and defend.&rdquo;
				Objections to the electoral votes from Pennsylvania and some other states are expected during the joint session, each of which would trigger a two-hour debate in each chamber of Congress. Congressman Cartwright will defend Pennsylvania&rsquo;s electoral votes on the House floor if an objection is made.
				Cartwright provided background on the integrity of the 2020 election:
				&#8226; More than 60 lawsuits have been filed to date challenging the results of the 2020 election, nearly all of which have been dismissed. Courts have uniformly confirmed the election results.
				&#8226; Many of the legal challenges to the Presidential election in Pennsylvania questioned small numbers of ballots that were allegedly affected by theoretical technical difficulties. The number of ballots in question is far too small to alter the result of the election.
				&#8226; In Pennsylvania, more than 20 election-related lawsuits were filed. Only one was successful, and that one affected fewer than 100 ballots.

Rep. Cartwright on joint session of Congress: ‘We will carry out our duty’