COMPLAINT FOR EXPEDITED DECLARATORY AND EMERGENCY INJUNCTIVE RELIEF (Election Matter) IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS TYLER DIVISION LOUIE GOHMERT, TYLER BOWYER, NANCY COTTLE, JAKE HOFFMAN, ANTHONY KERN, JAMES R. LAMON, SAM MOORHEAD, ROBERT MONTGOMERY, LORAINE PELLEGRINO, GREG SAFSTEN, KELLI WARD and MICHAEL WARD, Plaintiffs, v. THE HONORABLE MICHAEL R. PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, in his official capacity. Defendant

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lsqnN3Nz6x16mL6ouc9rn4bP4J5WqvOY/view?usp=sharing 

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS 

TYLER DIVISION 

LOUIE GOHMERT, TYLER BOWYER, NANCY COTTLE, JAKE HOFFMAN, ANTHONY KERN, JAMES R. LAMON, SAM MOORHEAD, ROBERT MONTGOMERY, LORAINE PELLEGRINO, GREG SAFSTEN, KELLI WARD and MICHAEL WARD, Plaintiffs, 

v. 

THE HONORABLE MICHAEL R. PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, in his official capacity. Defendant 

COMPLAINT FOR EXPEDITED DECLARATORY AND EMERGENCY INJUNCTIVE RELIEF (Election Matter) 

December 27, 2020 

  COUNT I 

DEFENDANT WILL NECESSARILY VIOLATE THE TWELFTH AMENDMENT AND THE ELECTORS CLAUSE OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION IF HE FOLLOWS THE ELECTORAL COUNT ACT. PRAYER FOR RELIEF 

73. Accordingly, Plaintiffs respectfully request that this Court issue a judgment that: 

A. Declares that Section 15 of the Electoral Count Act, 3 U.S.C. §§5 and 15, is unconstitutional because it violates the Twelfth Amendment on its face, Amend. XII, Constitution; 

B. Declares that Section 15 of the Electoral Count Act, 3 U.S.C. §§5 and 15, is unconstitutional because it violates the Electors Clause. U.S. CONST. art. II, § 1, cl. 1; 

C. Declares that Vice-President Pence, in his capacity as President of Senate and Presiding Officer of the January 6, 2021 Joint Session of Congress, is subject solely to the requirements of the Twelfth Amendment and may exercise the exclusive authority and sole discretion in determining which electoral votes to count for a given State; 

D. Enjoins reliance on any provisions of the Electoral Count Act that would limit Defendant’s exclusive authority and his sole discretion to determine which of two or more competing slates of electors’ votes are to be counted for President; 

E. Declares that, with respect to competing slates of electors from the State of Arizona or other Contested States, or with respect to objection to any single slate of electors, the Twelfth Amendment contains the exclusive dispute resolution mechanisms, namely, that (i) Vice-President Pence determines which slate of electors’ votes shall be counted, or if none be counted, for that State and (ii) if no person has a majority, then the House of Representatives (and only the House of Representatives) shall choose the President where “the votes [in the House of Representatives] shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote,” U.S. CONST. amend. XII; 

F. Declares that, also with respect to competing slates of electors, the alternative dispute resolution procedure or priority rule in 3 U.S.C. § 15, is null and void insofar as it contradicts and replaces the Twelfth Amendment rules above by with an entirely different procedure in which the House and Senate each separately “decide” which slate is to be counted, and in the event of a disagreement, then only “the votes of the electors whose appointment shall have been certified by the executive of the State … shall be counted,” 3 U.S.C. § 15; 

G. Enjoins the Defendant from executing his duties on January 6th during the Joint Session of Congress in any manner that is insistent with the declaratory relief set forth herein, and 

H. Issue any other declaratory judgments or findings or injunctions necessary to support or effectuate the foregoing declaratory judgment. 

74. Plaintiffs have concurrently submitted a motion for a speedy summary proceeding under FRCP Rule 57 to grant the relief requested herein as soon as practicable, and for emergency injunctive relief under FRCP Rule 65 thereof consistent with the declaratory judgment requested herein on that same date. 

Dated: December 27, 2020