McConnell, Schumer back bill to prevent efforts to subvert presidential election results
Last edited Tue Sep 27, 2022, 08:59 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: Washington Post
Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have endorsed a bipartisan electoral count reform bill in the Senate, all but cementing its passage and giving the legislation a boost as Congress seeks to prevent future efforts to subvert presidential election results.
The endorsements followed House passage of a similar bill last week. Both measures aim to stop future presidents from trying to overturn election results through Congress and were driven by the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a mob of Donald Trump supporters seeking to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s win.
The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), would amend the Electoral Count Act of 1887 and reaffirm that the vice president has only a ministerial role at the joint session of Congress to count electoral votes, as well as raise the threshold necessary for members of Congress to object to a state’s electors.
Speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon, McConnell said there was a need to make “modest” updates to the Electoral Count Act.
“Congress’s process for counting their presidential electors’ votes was written 135 years ago. The chaos that came to a head on January 6th of last year certainly underscored the need for an update,” McConnell said. “The Electoral Count Act ultimately produced the right conclusion … but it’s clear the country needs a more predictable path.”
In a statement, Schumer said, “Make no mistake: as our country continues to face the threat of the anti-democracy MAGA Republican movement — propelled by many GOP leaders who either refused to take a stand or actively stoked the flames of division in our country — reforming the Electoral Count Act ought to be the bare minimum of action the Congress takes.”
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/27/mcconnell-schumer-electoral-reform/
No paywall link (site that does these has been running slow)
Article/headline updated. Original article/headline-
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has endorsed a bipartisan electoral count reform bill in the Senate, giving the legislation a key boost over a similar bill the House passed last week. Both bills seek to prevent future presidents from trying to overturn election results through Congress, and were directly prompted by the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob seeking to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral win.
The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), would amend the Electoral Count Act of 1887 and reaffirm that the vice president has only a ministerial role at the joint session of Congress to count electoral votes, as well as raise the threshold necessary for members of Congress to object to a state’s electors.
Speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon, McConnell said he would “strongly support” the legislation, saying it did not “rashly replace current law with something untested.” “Congress’s process for counting their presidential electors votes was written 135 ago. The chaos that came to a head on Jan. 6 of last year certainly underscored the need for an update,” McConnell said. “The Electoral Count Act ultimately produced the right conclusion … but it’s clear the country needs a more predictable path.”
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) is also likely to back the bill. Both Schumer and McConnell sit on the Senate Rules Committee, which will meet Tuesday afternoon to vote on the legislation. Their votes would all but cement the bill’s likelihood of passing the Senate. The bill already enjoyed strong bipartisan support, with 11 Democratic and 11 Republican senators signing on to co-sponsor it last week.
I know the Senate bill is somewhat different from the more comprehensive House bill (that already passed) so some maneuvering is going to have to go on here.
Of course nothing is set into stone and if we can get more of a majority in both chambers, we could always amend if the Senate version is accepted, unchanged, by the House.
= new reply since forum marked as read
By Chris Cioffi
Posted September 21, 2022 at 5:27pm
(snip)
The two bills share many similarities, such as clarifying the vice president’s role when electoral votes are counted as “ministerial.” But they differ in other ways on overhauling the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which governs the acceptance of presidential votes by Congress.
Under the House version, the threshold needed for Congress to consider an objection to a state’s Electoral College votes would rise from a single objector in each chamber to one-third of each chamber. The Senate’s bill’s threshold is one-fifth.
Lofgren and Cheney’s bill also addresses some issues that arose in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election differently from the Senate’s bill, including when states could declare a “failed election” and substitute electors approved by voters.
The House bill does not address provisions related to the presidential transition, which Senate lawmakers included in their legislation. Members of the moderate Problem Solvers Caucus had introduced a House companion version of the Senate’s bill last week.
(snip)
https://rollcall.com/2022/09/21/jan-6-elections-bill-passes-house-but-uncertain-senate-future/
The 2 bills are these -
H.R.8873 - Presidential Election Reform Act
S.4573 - Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022
There are some mechanisms that they might be able to do to get both versions aligned, but it will be a tightrope they'll have to walk.
