Senate Democrats on Tuesday released a proposal for legislation that would reform a 19th-century election law amid claims that the vice president could have rejected disputed slates of electors while certifying the 2020 presidential results.
The proposed legislation from Sen. Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, as well as Rules Committee Chairwoman Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, would update the Electoral Count Act of 1887 to clarify that the vice president has a ceremonial role in counting the Electoral College votes and has no power to reject a state’s electors.
NEW YORK DEMOCRATS UNVEIL CONGRESSIONAL MAP BOOSTING PARTY AHEAD OF MIDTERM ELECTIONS
Former President Donald Trump has claimed that then-Vice President Mike Pence could have unilaterally overturned the results of the 2020 election by rejecting electoral votes from states won by Joe Biden. Pence said he lacked the constitutional authority to do so, raising Trump’s ire. Constitutional experts and historians have rejected Trump’s claim that a vice president has such power.
The proposal comes as a larger, bipartisan group of senators, including Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, considers ways to modernize the law. The proposal by King, Klobuchar, and Durbin appears to be operating on a parallel track as of Tuesday, although it may be considered by the larger group.
In a joint statement, King, Klobuchar, and Durbin said, “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.”
“In response, 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,” they continued, adding that they do not view the proposal as a substitute for Democrats’ voting rights legislation.
“We continue to support legislation to protect voting rights prior to Election Day, and strongly believe that we must clarify ambiguities in the electoral process after Election Day to truly ensure the will of the voters will prevail,” they said.
King’s office called the legislation a “discussion draft” and said the proposal would also prohibit state legislatures from appointing electors after Election Day in an effort to overturn their own election results and give them additional time to conduct “legitimate recounts and litigation.” It would also narrow the possible grounds for objections to electors or electoral votes and raise the thresholds for Congress to consider any objections.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said the White House is “open to and a part of conversations about the Electoral Count Act,” but the administration doesn’t think reforms to the law should be a “replacement” for the voting rights legislation it has backed. That legislation is currently stalled in the Senate.
