WASHINGTON (AP) - Wednesday’s congressional joint session to count electoral votes is taking on added importance this year.

Republicans allied with President Donald Trump are trying to undo Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the Electoral College. A group of Republicans in the House and Senate say they will officially object to the results, forcing votes that will almost certainly fail.

Republicans orchestrating President Donald Trump’s extraordinary effort to overturn the presidential election are facing intense blowback.

Trump has enlisted support from a dozen Republican senators and up to 100 House Republicans to challenge the Electoral College vote.

Congress is set to convene Wednesday in a joint session to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s 306-232 win.

But a bipartisan group of 10 senators is criticizing the effort to overturn the results, saying that “the 2020 election is over.”

The Republicans who plan to object are citing Trump’s baseless charges of widespread fraud in the election.

A range of election officials, including former attorney general William Barr, have confirmed that widespread fraud did not occur.

The congressional meeting is the final step in certifying Biden’s win.

Officials in their own party are warning the unprecedented effort is undermining the nation’s civic norms and Americans’ faith in democracy.

(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press)