Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said an electoral vote challenge on Jan. 6 to the results from certain states planned by about a dozen other Republican senators, as well as a number of GOP House members, is a way to restore confidence in the process. Several days ago, a group of 11 senators led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said that they would object to electoral votes unless an emergency bipartisan audit in light of allegations of election fraud was carried out. Before that, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced that he would become the first senator to join the House GOP effort, which requires a representative and senator to officially object. “We are not attempting to thwart the democratic process, we’re acting to protect it,” Johnson told NBC News on Jan. 3. Democrats have launched similar efforts in recent elections, most notably in January 2005, when former Sen. Barbara Boxer and former …