Update: On Wednesday night and into early Thursday morning, Congress voted to certify Joe Biden’s presidential victory. Some of the Republican congresswomen who initially said they would not vote to certify — including Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Kelly Loeffler — ultimately changed their mind.

In the days before Congress was set to count electoral votes — the final step in certifying the next president of the United States — at least 12 Republican women in the Senate and House of Representatives announced they would challenge Joe Biden’s victory while 11 said they would not. 

The vote is scheduled for Wednesday, and the election results are expected to be certified despite the challenges. 

On Saturday, Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming both joined about a dozen other Republican lawmakers calling for an electoral commission to conduct a 10-day audit to investigate voter fraud allegations, according to a joint statement. 

“We are taking a united stand against the tainted electoral results from the recent presidential election,” Blackburn said in the statement. 

On Monday, on the eve of her state’s runoff election, Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia wrote in a statement that she would support the “objection to the Electoral College Certification process.” She argued that voters should be completely confident in election outcomes and the president deserved a fair hearing. 

On Sunday, a bipartisan group of senators — including Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine — issued a statement calling for all lawmakers to certify the election results and “move forward.”

“The 2020 election is over,” the statement read. “All challenges through recounts and appeals have been exhausted. At this point, further attempts to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 Presidential election are contrary to the clearly expressed will of the American people and only serve to undermine Americans’ confidence in the already determined election results.”

Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Deb Fischer of Nebraska have also said they would vote to certify the electoral votes.

There are currently nine Republican women in the Senate. Four have not issued statements on their plans for election certification.

Biden received 306 votes from the Electoral College, surpassing the 270-vote threshold for a majority, and President Donald Trump received 232. 

In the House, there are 29 Republican women. At least 10 said they will vote to challenge the results.

• Rep. Vicky Hartzler of Missouri
• Rep. Jackie Walorski of Indiana
• Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado
• Rep. Kat Cammack of Florida
• Rep. Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee
• Rep. Yvette Herrell of New Mexico
• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia
• Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York
• Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York
• Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois

Eight others said they will certify the election results, including Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington — who changed her stance after a mob stormed the Capitol on Wednesday. 

• Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington
• Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri
• Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming
• Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina
• Rep. Deb Fischer of Nebraska
• Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa
• Rep. Young Kim of California
• Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa

“The president and his lawyers have made claims of criminality and widespread fraud, which they allege could impact election results,” Cheney said in a statement, acknowledging that President Trump has already lost more than 30 lawsuits. “If they have genuine evidence of this, they are obligated to present it immediately in court and to the American people.” 

There has been no evidence of rampant voter fraud or other irregularities in any state, despite Trump and his allies’ repeated assertions that the election was “rigged.” 

This is not the first time that members of Congress have challenged election results. In 2017, at least seven House Democrats objected to electoral votes for Trump. In 2005, dozens of Congressional Democrats voted to reject Ohio’s electoral votes.