WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators proposed new legislation Wednesday to modernize the 135-year-old Election Count Act, working to overhaul a law that President Donald J. Trump tried to abuse January 6, 2021, to prevent congressional certification of his election defeat.
The legislation aims to ensure a peaceful transition from one president to the next after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol showed how existing law can be manipulated to disrupt the process. One measure would make it harder for lawmakers to challenge a state’s electoral votes when Congress convenes to officially count them. It would also clarify that the vice president has no discretion over the results and would outline the steps to begin a presidential transition.
The second bill would increase penalties for threatening and intimidating election officials and encourage steps to improve the Post Office’s handling of mail-in ballots.
Alarmed by the events of Jan. 6, which exposed longstanding flaws in the law governing the election recount process, a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Senators Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joe Manchin III, D-West Virginia, have been meeting for months , to try to agree on a rewrite.
“From the beginning, our bipartisan caucus has shared a vision to craft legislation to correct the shortcomings of the archaic and ambiguous Election Counting 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 election experts and legal scholars, we have developed legislation that establishes clear guidelines for our system for certifying and counting electoral votes for President and Vice President.”
Key takeaways from the January 6 hearings
Although the authors lack the minimum 10 Republican senators needed to ensure the legislation can pass the filibuster and finally pass, they hope to gather enough support for a vote later this year.
The legislative effort began after the Jan. 6 attack, which unfolded as Congress convened for a traditionally routine ballot count, the last official confirmation of presidential election results before the inauguration.
In the run-up to the riot, Mr Trump tried unsuccessfully to persuade Vice President Mike Pence – who is presiding over the session in his capacity as Senate president – to unilaterally block the count, citing false allegations of election fraud.
The new legislation focuses mainly on the processing of electoral votes and does not include broader voting protections sought by Democrats after some states introduced new laws seen as making it harder for people to vote following Democratic victories in 2020 Senate Republicans have previously blocked a vote on the measures.
There is widespread agreement in Congress that some steps should be taken to strengthen the Election Counting Act, although there may be disagreement over the specific provisions.
“The recount law really needs to be fixed,” Sen. Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader, told reporters on Tuesday, saying he was “sympathetic” to the goals of those working on the legislation.
Under the vote recount proposal, a state’s governor would be identified as the sole official responsible for presenting the state’s voter list after the presidential vote, barring other officials from doing so.
In an effort to prevent frivolous attempts to challenge a state’s voter count, a minimum of one-fifth of the House and Senate would be required to file an objection — a significant increase from the current threshold of one House member and one senator. Objections still need to be supported by a majority of the House and Senate.
After a standoff over the 2020 presidential transition, when Trump administration officials initially refused to provide President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. with the funding and office space to begin preparations to take office, the legislation would allow more than one candidate to receive transition resources if the result remains in dispute.
After pressure from Mr. Trump and his allies to have Mr. Pence manipulate the election count in Mr. Trump’s favor, the legislation would state that the vice president’s role is mainly ceremonial and that “he or she has no authority to shall only determine, accept, reject or otherwise resolve disputes concerning electors.’
Besides Ms. Collins, the other Republican members of the bipartisan group supporting the overhaul 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, Tom Tillis of North Carolina and Todd Young of Indiana.
In addition to Mr. Manchin, the Democrats are Senators Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland, Chris Coons of Delaware, Christopher S. Murphy of Connecticut, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Kirsten Sinema of Arizona and Mark Warner of Virginia.
Add Comment