The Presidential Electoral Reform Act was introduced by Representative Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. (left), and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., both sit on the Democratic-led House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol.
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The Presidential Electoral Reform Act was introduced by Representative Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. (left), and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., both sit on the Democratic-led House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol.
Alex Wong / Getty Images
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a series of electoral reforms aimed at removing ambiguities and classical language in the presidential certification process, some of which former President Donald Trump and his allies have attempted exploited in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
The Presidential Electoral Reform Act was introduced by Representative Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. And Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Both sit in the Democratic-led House of Representatives Committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Their legislation passed in the House of Representatives 229-203, with nine Republicans Vote with all Democrats in favor. The GOP leadership opposes this measure.
The Invoice 38 pages would make several changes to the law governing how Electoral College ballots are submitted by states and then counted by Congress, known as The Number of Voters Act. Notably, the legislation would make it more difficult for members of Congress to issue certificates with objections not based on legitimate concerns and would make it clear that the vice president’s role in counting votes The electorate is the ministerial level.
The bill “will help ensure the events of January 6, 2021, are not repeated in the future,” according to a fact sheet from the House Management Committee chaired by Lofgren.
Legal experts have noisy to update the Voter Count Act, written in 1887, for many years.
“Imagine that there’s a book law that requires you to travel by horse and car,” said Rebecca Green, co-director of the electoral law program at the College of William & Mary. with NPR earlier this year.
The bill passed by the House is similar but not the same as the narrower section the law that a bipartisan group of senators led by Senators Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Senators Joe Manchin, DW.Va., worked this year.
Collins said washington articles This week, she prefers the Senate legislation, as it already has enough Republican approval in that chamber to pass the filtering threshold.
“I like our bill better, which is the product of months of research, input from constitutional and electoral experts, and a bill that has garnered support,” Collins said. broad bipartisan support”. “I believe we can work this out, and I hope that we both do.”
It’s unclear when the Senate will adopt any legislation related to the Voter Count Act, but experts say it’s important that it happens soon, before the 2024 presidential cycle heats up. serious.
“Time to settle [these problems] Ned Foley, an election law expert at Ohio State University, said in an interview earlier this year. will be available in ’24 and ’25, and therefore there is more opportunity for bipartisan consensus on clear procedures to regulate the process. ”
