Pence defends Jan. 6 actions amid Iowa criticism.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa—Former Vice President Mike Pence reaffirmed that his actions on Jan. 6 were “exactly what the Constitution of the United States required” after a disgruntled voter accused him of handing the 2020 election to President Joe Biden.

“If it wasn’t for your vote, we would not have Joe Biden in the White House,” Luann Bertrand told Mr. Pence at a July 5 campaign stop at the Pizza Ranch restaurant.

“Joe Biden shouldn’t be there. And all those wonderful things that you and Donald Trump were doing together would be continuing, and this country would be on the right path,” Ms. Bertrand said.

“Do you ever second guess yourself?”

Before Mr. Pence could respond, Ms. Bertrand continued. “It was not like you were going to personally elect him. We all know by the number of votes that were there who won that election. You changed history for this country.”

Mr. Pence, flanked by a tight-lipped Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa), responded tactfully to the question but refused to concede the point.

Mr. Pence asserted that, as vice president, he had the authority to take any action other than to preside over the joint session of Congress where the electoral ballots were opened and counted and that former President Donald Trump was wrong in asking him to do so.

The polite-but-pointed exchange gave Mr. Pence the opportunity both to defend his record and to critique Mr. Trump, his former running mate and now political opponent.

Electoral Vote Count

Mr. Trump claimed victory in the 2020 election despite the reported results of the balloting, which showed Mr. Biden winning by an electoral vote margin of 306 to 232 and a popular vote margin of approximately 81 million to 74 million.

Republicans, citing voting irregularities surrounding rule changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, contested the result in some 60 court challenges. Only one case was successful, but the finding did not affect the outcome for the county in question, the court ruled.

As the date for counting the electoral college votes drew closer, Mr. Trump reportedly asked Mr. Pence multiple times to invalidate the ballots, sending them back to the states for recertification in an apparent attempt to have Republican-controlled state legislatures decide the election.

Despite mounting pressure from Mr. Trump and his supporters, Mr. Pence refused to comply, insisting that the Constitution did not afford him that authority.

Certification of the electoral vote was interrupted on Jan. 6, 2021, when protesters breached the Capitol, forcing members to vacate both legislative chambers. Mr. Pence, however, refused to leave the building and resumed the count later that day.

He explained his reasoning to Ms. Bertrand and several dozen listeners at the July 5 campaign stop.

Pence’s Stance

“You never want to let Washington, D.C., run elections. You certainly would never want one person in Washington, D.C. to decide who the president of the United States is,” Pence said.

He explained that there are two ways to resolve questions about the validity of an election.

“Number one is you take those issues to the legal process in the state and recount. Secondly, you take them to the courts, which we did very aggressively,” Mr. Pence said.

“But the courts upheld those changes in virtually every instance. And in every instance where they would have any impact whatsoever. At the end of the day, when Iowa certified your results and sent them to Washington, D.C., … the Constitution of the United States, in Article II, says that it’s the job of the vice p