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CNN
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Congress has passed measures aimed at making it more difficult to overturn sanctioned presidential elections. This is a key moment that marks the first legislative response to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and the relentless pressure campaign of then-President Donald Trump. power despite his 2020 loss.
The bill to overhaul the Electoral College Act of 1887 was included as part of the massive $1.7 trillion government funding bill that the Senate passed on Thursday and the House on Friday. This will be signed into law by President Joe Biden.
A bill to overhaul the Electoral College Act would make it clear that the Vice President’s role in overseeing the certification of election results to Congress is strictly ceremonial. Raise the threshold to make it harder for legislators to force votes to overturn state certification results. It also includes a provision to prevent attempts to put bogus electors into Congress.
The bill is the result of intense bipartisan negotiations with the support of top Republicans, including Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. But many Republicans in the House oppose efforts to overhaul election laws. So, with Republicans soon taking control of the House, lawmakers pressured the bill to go to Biden’s desk, knowing it would likely fail in the next Congress.
Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins and West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin announced Tuesday that the bill was included as part of a broader government funding package.
“We are delighted that our legislation has been included in the Comprehensive Appropriations Bill, and we appreciate the support of so many of our colleagues. ,” the senators said in a joint statement.
The Electoral College Act was enacted in 1887 and Trump has tried to misuse it to create confusion about how Congress counts the votes of state electoral colleges in presidential elections. . Constitutional experts say the vice president can’t now ignore state-sanctioned election results, but as part of his pressure campaign, Trump asked then-Vice President Mike Pence to fill the Electoral College in Congress. Pressured to block accreditation. Pence refused to do so, and was consequently targeted by a mob of the former president and his supporters who stormed the Capitol on January 6.
The new law seeks to clarify that the vice president has only a ceremonial role overseeing the certification of election results and does not have the authority to unilaterally accept, reject, or resolve disputes over electoral votes. .
It also allows members of Congress to overturn elections by increasing the threshold number of Representatives and Senators required to challenge the election results when a joint session of Congress meets to authenticate them. make it more difficult to do so.
According to the factsheet, the bill would “raise the threshold for at least one-fifth of duly elected and sworn members of both the House and Senate to challenge the electorate.” Under current law, one senator can join her one congressman, forcing each side to vote on whether to dissent and overturn the results.
The bill also includes changes aimed at preventing attempts to install fake electors. For example, each state’s governor is responsible for submitting certificates identifying their electors, and Congress cannot accept electoral rolls submitted by other officials. “This reform addresses the potential for multiple state officials to send competing slates to Congress,” the factsheet said.
