WASHINGTON – A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday proposed new legislation to modernize the 135-year Electoral Count Act, working to revise a law that President Donald J. Trump tried to abuse on January 6, 2021 to interfere with certification of Congress. of his electoral defeat.
The legislation seeks to ensure a peaceful transition from one president to another, after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol demonstrated how the current law could be manipulated to disrupt the process. A measure that would make it difficult for lawmakers to challenge a state’s electoral votes when Congress meets to make its official count. He also clarifies that the vice president has no discretion over the results and outlines the steps to begin a presidential transition.
A second bill would increase sanctions for threats and intimidation of election officials and encourage measures to improve the handling of postal ballots by the postal service.
Alarmed by the January 6 events that showed long-standing flaws in the law regulating the electoral counting process, a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Senators Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, and Joe Manchin III, a West Virginia Democrat, has met for months to try to agree on a rewrite.
“From the beginning, our bipartisan group has shared the vision of drafting legislation to address the shortcomings of the archaic and ambiguous Electoral Count Act of 1887,” 16 senators said in a joint statement. “Through numerous meetings and debates among our colleagues, as well as conversations with a wide variety of electoral experts and jurists, we have developed legislation that sets clear guidelines for our system of certification and counting of electoral votes for the president and vice president “.
Key revelations from the January 6 hearings
While the authors do not have the minimum of 10 Republican senators needed to ensure the legislation can overcome an obstruction and final approval, they hope to gather enough support for a vote by the end of the year.
The legislative effort began after the Jan. 6 attack, which unfolded when Congress met for the traditionally routine counting of ballots, which is the latest official confirmation of the results of the presidential election before of the inauguration.
In the run-up to the riot, Mr. Trump tried unsuccessfully to persuade Vice President Mike Pence — who chaired the session as Senate President — to unilaterally block the count, citing false allegations of electoral fraud.
The new legislation focuses primarily on the handling of electoral votes and does not incorporate broader voting protections sought by Democrats after some states instituted new laws deemed difficult to get people to vote after Democratic victories in 2020. Senate have already blocked voters. measures.
There is a widespread feeling in Congress that some steps need to be taken to strengthen the Electoral Count Act, although there may be disagreement over the specific provisions.
“The Electoral Count Act needs to be fixed,” Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican and minority leader, told reporters Tuesday, saying it was “compatible” with the goals of those working in the legislation. .
Under the proposal to revise the vote count, the governor of a state would be identified as the only official responsible for presenting the list of state voters after the presidential vote, preventing other officials from doing so.
In an effort to avoid frivolous efforts to oppose a state’s electoral count, it would take a minimum of one-fifth of the House and Senate to file an objection, a substantial increase in the current threshold of a member of the House. House and a senator. Objections should still be upheld by a majority in the House and Senate.
After a showdown over the presidential transition in 2020, when Trump administration officials initially refused to provide President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. funding and office space to begin preparations to take power, legislation would allow more than one candidate to receive the transition. resources if the outcome remained in dispute.
After the push of Mr. Trump and his allies to get Mr. Pence manipulates the electoral count in favor of Mr. Trump, the legislation would stipulate that the vice president’s role is primarily ceremonial and that he “has no power to merely determine, accept, reject, or otherwise resolve disputes over voters.”
In addition to Ms. Collins, the other Republican members of the bipartisan group supporting the review are Senators Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio, Mitt Romney of ‘Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska. , Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Todd Young of Indiana.
In addition to Mr. Manchin, Democrats are Senators Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland, Chris Coons of Delaware, Christopher S. Murphy of Connecticut, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Mark Warner of Virginia.