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| Saul Loeb/Pool via AP, File |
Legislation unveiled Tuesday by three Senate Democrats would overhaul a 135-year-old law that many believe inadvertently spurred the Jan. 6, 2021, attack of the U.S. Capitol.
The lawmakers say that changing the Electoral Count Act of 1887 (ECA) is needed to prevent a constitutional crisis the next time Congress meets to certify a presidential election. The proposal would make it harder for lawmakers to object to certifying a state election and would clarify the role of the vice president in the counting of Electoral College votes.
“Experts across the political spectrum agree that the Electoral Count Act of 1887 needs to be updated to reflect the current realities and threats facing the United States and our election process,” said the senators.
Authoring the proposal are Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, and two Democratic committee chairs: Judiciary Chairman Richard J. Durbin of Illinois and Rules Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar. --->READ MORE HERE
A group of Senate Democrats on Tuesday unveiled legislation that would reform an 1887 election law that has been in the spotlight in the wake of the 2020 election.
The proposal — from Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with Democrats, Rules Committee Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) — would clarify that the vice president's role overseeing the formal counting of the Electoral College vote is ceremonial.
The proposal comes after then-President Trump tried to get his vice president, Mike Pence, to throw out results from battleground states that he lost in the 2020 election.
It also increases the number of lawmakers in the House and Senate that need to support an objection before both chambers must vote on it. Currently, it just takes one member from the House and Senate; the legislation would increase it to one-third of both chambers. It also increases the threshold for upholding the objection from a simple majority in both chambers to three-fifths in both chambers.
"As leaders on the Senate Rules Committee with jurisdiction over federal elections and members of Senate Democratic leadership, we have been working with legal experts and election law scholars to develop legislation that would modernize the framework of the Electoral Count Act of 1887," the three senators said in a joint statement. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to related stories:
Trump calls Susan Collins ‘wacky’ over bipartisan effort to shore up electoral count
Democrats unveil legislation to reform the Electoral Count Act in response to Trump's bid to overturn the election and clarifies the vice president does NOT have to reject a state's electors
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