A group of bipartisan senators introduced two brand new pieces of legislation Wednesday that are geared toward reforming a long-standing election law that popped into the spotlight way back during the somewhat controversial 2020 presidential election between former President Donald Trump and then-candidate Joe Biden.
One of these bills, according to Newsmax, would make some serious changes to the 1887 Electoral Count Act by adding some clarifications concerning the appropriate role for both federal and state government in selecting the president and vice president, as well as producing some clear guidelines on when it is allowed for federal resources to be allocated to eligible presidential candidates.
“As reported even more specifically by outlets including The New York Times, one measure would make it tougher for lawmakers to challenge a state’s electoral votes when Congress meets to make its official count. Further, the bill aims to clarify that the vice president has no discretion over the results — that became a point of contention after Trump, alleging massive voter fraud, pressed Vice President Mike Pence to halt certification of the Electoral College results in Biden’s favor,” the report said.
Former Vice President Pence stated himself that the vice president has no such authority and fulfills a mostly a ceremonial role.
“A second piece of legislation would double federal penalties for those who threaten or intimidate election workers, poll watchers, voters or candidates. It would also seek to improve the handling of mail-in ballots by the U.S. Postal System and states, authorize the federal agency that administers elections and safeguard election records,” the Newsmax report went on to say.
The report revealed that the bill is the result of months of talks led by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of Virginia and GOP Sen. Susan Collins.
“We urge our colleagues in both parties to support these simple, common-sense reforms,” a statement published by the group of seven Democrats and eight Republicans said.
Senate committees will be taking up both bills, along with another similar piece of legislation from a different set of lawmakers, the goal in mind of passing the reform package by the end of the year.
“The bipartisan group began working toward reform legislation in January, a year after protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to pressure then Vice President Mike Pence to stop certification of the former president’s 2020 election loss to Biden,” Newsmax reported.
Democrats within the House of Representatives have made it clear they are working on moving on their own reform legislation.
Boy, this is sure to rile up some feathers, isn’t it?
Whether you believe in accusations of election fraud or not, one thing we should all agree on is protecting our election system to ensure that every single vote is heard, because that represents the voice of the average, everyday American citizen, the very backbone of the country.
The dream of our founders was for the country to be run for the people. Preserving election integrity is part of maintaining that foundational truth and is totally worth going fight to protect.
This story syndicated with permission from michael, Author at Trending Politics
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