A pass in the House on Wednesday Electoral Counting Law Reform BillAnother resistance effort by Rep. Liz Cheney and others January 6, 2021, when pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to disrupt electoral vote counts for the 2020 presidential election. The final vote was 229 to 203, with nine Republicans joining Democrats in supporting the bill.
Those nine Republicans are Cheney and Reps. Tom Rice, Adam Kinzinger, Peter Meijer, Jaime Herrera Beutler, Fred Upton, John Katko, Anthony Gonzales and Chris Jacobs.
The Presidential Election Reform Act, sponsored by Cheney and fellow committee member Rep. Joe Lofgren on January 6, requires Congress to receive an electoral certificate from each state that accurately reflects the will of the voters, requires Congress to count electoral votes as constitutional, and reaffirms that The vice president’s role in approving electoral votes is purely ministerial, after Trump publicly urged then-Vice President Mike Pence to “reject the fraudulently elected electors.” Pence refused, saying he had no authority to do so.
The bill increases the limit on any objection made in the House or Senate to a state electoral vote from one member of each chamber to one-third of the members of each chamber.
“Let me be clear — this is a kitchen table issue for families, and we must make sure that this anti-Democratic conspiracy cannot succeed,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said before the vote. “This is a kitchen table issue because denying the American people the basic freedom to choose their own leaders denies them a voice in the policies we pursue and those policies can make a huge difference in their daily lives.”
House GOP leaders encouraged Republican members to vote against the bill. None of the nine Republicans who voted for it will be on the ballot in November Four lost primaries Trump-endorsed challengers and five decided not to run. Eight of them voted for impeachment Former President Donald Trump for his actions before the January 6 attacks.
The measure must still pass the Senate before being signed by President Biden.
“What Donald Trump tried to convince the vice president to do was illegal under existing law, and we start by affirming that, but then we have to take steps to make sure that January 6 is something that never happens again,” Cheney said on the call Tuesday. .
In the Senate, Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin announced Wednesday that a similar bill, the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, now has 10 GOP cosponsors and 10 Democratic cosponsors. The fact that 10 Republicans are signing on as co-sponsors indicates that there is enough support to pass the bill in the Senate.
“We are pleased to see growing bipartisan support for this sensible and much-needed reform of the Election Counting Act of 1887,” Manchin and Collins said in a statement Wednesday. “Our bill is supported by election law experts and organizations across the ideological spectrum. We will continue to work to build bipartisan support for our legislation that will correct the flaws in this antiquated and ambiguous law.”
The Office of Management and Budget issued a statement of formal support for the Presidential Election Reform Act on Wednesday.
“The Administration shares Congress’s interest in protecting the electoral process by protecting the will of the people, expressed through democratic procedures established by law,” OMB said. “…Americans deserve more clarity on the process by which their votes will result in the election of President and Vice President.”
— Rebecca Kaplan contributed to this report
Catherine Watson
