U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, defended his objection to certifying Pennsylvania's electors, even after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying it was needed to “restore faith.”

Kelly, who was one of two congressmen from Butler County to object to the certification, railed against the law passed in 2019 expanding mail-in voting in the state on the House floor Thursday morning, even after the Senate, with no debate, handedly defeated the objection.

The six-term congressman has maintained a view that Act 77 of 2019 violated the state constitution because he believes the state constitution sets a limit as to who can vote by mail; critics of his viewpoint maintain the constitution sets a minimum as to who can vote by mail, not a maximum.

On Friday, his spokesman, Andrew Eisenberger, said Kelly made the objection and voted to sustain it, not for political gain, but because the objection is necessary to uphold the rule of law.

“The goal of Rep. Kelly's objection was to hold Pennsylvania officials accountable for violating the commonwealth's constitution and its laws leading up to the 2020 election,” Eisenberger said. “He believes those actions must be corrected if we are to restore faith in the election system going forward.”

Kelly has made this argument before. Since the Nov. 3 election, the congressman has argued the unconstitutionality of Act 77 before several courts — both state and federal — which all rejected it. Kelly noted on the House floor Thursday, however, that the state Supreme Court declined to rule in his favor because it was not raised in a timely manner.

Gov. Tom Wolf derided Kelly and others on Wednesday because they argued to not certify the state's electors.

“Eight of the nine Republican members of Congress from Pennsylvania lied about our election in an attempt to pledge fealty to President Trump,” Wolf said. “Republican legislators enabled this (attack on the Capitol) every step of the way. They've held show trials to gin up President Trump's supporters. They've intentionally spread disinformation.”

But Kelly has stood by his argument, saying upholding the constitution is more important than even winning his own seat.

“When he challenged the constitutionality of the mail-in ballot system, he knew that it was possible that his election would also be vacated by a court. If that had occurred, he was prepared to deal with those consequences even if it meant having to run in a special election under the correct rules,” Eisenberger said. “His first priority is to uphold the Constitution and our laws to give Pennsylvanians confidence in our electoral system.”