Votes of voters-new reform of U.S. Congress
2022.12.20 11:39
Votes of voters-new reform of U.S. Congress
Budrigannews.com – To avoid a repeat of the chaos that followed Donald Trump’s defeat as president in 2020, legislation to tighten the certification process for presidential elections is expected to be passed by the U.S. Congress.
The Electoral Count Reform Act, which lawmakers included in a bill to fund the government at the end of the year, has the following specifics:
The bipartisan initiative would amend the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which specifies how Congress formally certifies the winner and tallies the state-by-state results of a presidential election. The law, according to critics, is poorly written and open to interpretation.
Until Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent lawmakers from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s victory, the congressional session, which occurs approximately two months after the election, was largely regarded as a formality.
As they pressed Republican allies to overturn his loss, Trump and his advisers had cited provisions of the 1887 law.
The Electoral Count Reform Act has strong bipartisan support, at least in the Senate, in contrast to other election law reforms that have failed this year in Congress due to Republican opposition.
The bill, which was drafted by Democratic Senator Joe Manchin and Republican Senator Susan Collins, two moderates, has the support of leaders from both parties.
Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who led efforts in Congress to prevent certification on January 6, cast the lone “no” vote in a September committee vote.
In September, a bill of a similar nature was approved by the House of Representatives, largely on party lines.
The legislation would make it clear that vice presidents only play a ceremonial role when Congress certifies and counts the state-by-state election results.
Mike Pence, Trump’s vice president, had been urged by Trump to stop lawmakers from certifying Biden’s victory. Trump attacked Pence at a rally when he said he didn’t have the authority to do so, and as his supporters stormed the Capitol, they threatened to kill the vice president.
By requiring approval from one-fifth of the House and Senate in order to take into consideration a challenge to a state’s results, the legislation would also make it harder for legislators to interfere with the process.
If only one legislator from each chamber objects, the law currently in effect requires Congress to take the challenge into consideration. That took place on January 6, and as a result, Congress was forced to take into account unfounded challenges to Biden’s victories in Arizona and Pennsylvania, where he had hid from the violent, pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol.
Despite the support of eight Republicans in the Senate and 139 Republicans in the House, those challenges were ultimately rejected by Congress.
Additionally, it would stipulate that only the governor of a state or another lawfully appointed official would be permitted to submit election results.
That would head off Trump’s 2020 system of enrolling thoughtful state administrators to submit “substitute” results showing he won expresses that he really lost. For that effort, the U.S. Justice Department and a Georgia prosecutor are now conducting criminal investigations against him.
Another routine procedure that Trump overturned following the 2020 election is clarified in the legislation, which also makes it clear how a winning candidate can set up their administration before they take office.
After that election, the head of the United States General Services Administration, Emily Murphy, refused to release funds that would have allowed him to complete his transition work, which put Biden’s efforts on hold for several weeks.
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According to the new law, the GSA will cut off funds to the loser once the outcome is clear, but it will give transition funds to both candidates if neither has conceded within five days of Election Day.
