Braun Backs Off Electoral Certification Vote, Four Indiana Representatives Still Object

Updated Jan. 7 at 9:10 a.m.

U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) backed off a plan to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election Wednesday after insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol.

But three Hoosier Republican members of the U.S. House voted to block Joe Biden from becoming the next president.

Earlier in the day – and first announced Saturday – Braun said he would join some GOP colleagues to vote against the Electoral College’s results, citing unfounded allegations of voter fraud. That put the Republican alongside the cause of many of those who violently broke into the Capitol, sending lawmakers and staff into lockdown and ending with at least one person dead.

U.S. Sen. Todd Young, the senior Hoosier senator, always said he would not object to the Electoral College results.

In a statement, Young said that while he wished the results were different, he swore an oath to the Constitution, and voting against certification would violate that oath.

Earlier in the day, Young was confronted in Washington D.C. by protesters, urging him to vote against certification in a bid to overturn the election.

Young, in a moment captured on Twitter by a Washington Post reporter, loudly refused.

"I took an oath under God. Under God, I took an oath! Do we still take that seriously in this country?" Young said.

U.S. Reps. Jackie Walorski (R-Jimtown), Jim Banks (R-Columbia City) and Jim Baird (R-Greencastle) voted to object to presidential election results in key states. U.S. Rep. Greg Pence (R-Columbus), Vice President Mike Pence's brother, voted to object to Pennsylvania's Electoral College votes.

The rest of the Hoosier congressional delegation – two Democrats and four Republicans, including Vice President Mike Pence’s brother Greg Pence (R-Columbus) – voted to certify the results.

Members the congressional delegation condemned the violence through social media after insurrectionists stormed the capitol.

Braun and Young also decried the violence on Twitter. 

This story has been updated.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story said U.S. Rep. Greg Pence (R-Columbus) did not vote to object to any Electoral College result certifications. That was incorrect. He voted to object to Pennsylvania's. 

Indiana Public Broadcasting's Lauren Chapman contributed to this story.

Contact reporter Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.