Updating the Electoral Count Act (1 Viewer)

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

It's a start.

WASHINGTON — Two senators working on an overhaul of the little-known law that former President Donald J. Trump and his allies tried to use to overturn the 2020 election pledged on Sunday that their legislation would pass the Senate, saying that recent revelations about the plot made their work even more important.

In a joint interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Senators Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, and Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, said their efforts to rewrite the Electoral Count Act of 1887 were gaining broader support in the Senate, with as many as 20 senators taking part in the discussions.

“Absolutely, it will pass,” Mr. Manchin said of an overhaul of the law, which dictates how Congress formalizes elections.

He said efforts by Mr. Trump and his allies to exploit “ambiguity” in the law were “what caused the insurrection” — the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. That misreading of the statute led to a plan by Mr. Trump and his allies to amass a crowd outside the Capitol to try to pressure Congress and Vice President Mike Pence, who presided over Congress’s official count of electoral votes, to overturn the results of the election.

Ms. Murkowski said the rewrite could be expanded to include other protections for democracy, such as a crackdown on threats and harassment against election workers.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Naturally the FPOTUS had his own TAEK on the proposed reforms:

“If the Vice President (Mike Pence) had 'absolutely no right' to change the Presidential Election results in the Senate, despite fraud and many other irregularities, how come the Democrats and RINO Republicans, like Wacky Susan Collins, are desperately trying to pass legislation that will not allow the Vice President to change the results of the election?” Trump asked.

“Actually, what they are saying, is that Mike Pence did have the right to change the outcome, and they now want to take that right away,” he added.

The former president also said Pence “unfortunately” did not “exercise that power,” adding that “he could have overturned the Election!”

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Mr. King’s group last week released draft legislative text for a rewrite of the Electoral Count Act that would address deficiencies exposed by Mr. Trump’s plan. The bill would clarify that the vice president has no power to reject a state’s electors and ensure that state legislatures cannot appoint electors after Election Day in an effort to overturn their state’s election results.

It would also give states additional time to complete legitimate recounts and litigation; provide limited judicial review to ensure that the electors appointed by a state reflect the popular vote results in the state; enumerate specific and narrow grounds for objections to electors or electoral votes; raise the thresholds for Congress to consider objections; and make it harder to sustain objections without broad support by both chambers of Congress.

 

[kwille]

Solid development. 

 

[Desert_Power]

Solid development. 

Yes. Cautiously optimistic.

 

[rockaction]

“If the Vice President (Mike Pence) had 'absolutely no right' to change the Presidential Election results in the Senate, despite fraud and many other irregularities, how come the Democrats and RINO Republicans, like Wacky Susan Collins, are desperately trying to pass legislation that will not allow the Vice President to change the results of the election?” Trump asked.

“Actually, what they are saying, is that Mike Pence did have the right to change the outcome, and they now want to take that right away,” he added.

The former president also said Pence “unfortunately” did not “exercise that power,” adding that “he could have overturned the Election!”

If we get Trump, we seem to have deserved him. It's not like this exactly will have come out of left field. 

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Trish Turner@caphilltrish

After subgroup met on ECA reform,

@SenatorRomney tells reporters, “the place that we really need more information is what happens if there's a a partisan certifying officer at the state level?” Uses GA Sec of State Raffensberger as example - what if he says he found 12k votes!…

Romney says the group is currently looking into “what’s the remedy for that”  "How do you make sure that the certifying officer follows the vote?”

Even better news.

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

I refuse to waste any mindspace on this story as long as Romney and Murkowski are the only Republicans discussing it. Get back to me when there are eight more.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

I refuse to waste any mindspace on this story as long as Romney and Murkowski are the only Republicans discussing it. Get back to me when there are eight more.

Romney, Blount, Murkowski, Collins, Portman, Tillis, Wicker, Sasse, McConnell are all involved or have given their support.  And multiple GOP types have indicated they think there's general support on the Republican side of the aisle to pass it.  Manchin suggested the same thing.