The Presidential Election Reform Act, authored by Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), specifically cites the attack on Capitol Hill as a reason to amend its election count law 1887, “to prevent other future illegal attempts to subvert the Presidential election and to ensure future peaceful transfers of Presidential power.” “Our democracy has held us, but barely,” Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) said Wednesday before a procedural vote on the bill. “This bill will help ensure that the will of the American people, as expressed by their votes, cannot be overturned by any official of any political party, at any time, for any purpose.” President Donald Trump had falsely told his supporters that Vice President Mike Pence had the power to reject electoral votes that had already been certified by states. Pence did not — and has repeatedly emphasized that the Constitution gives the vice president no such power. But on Jan. 6, many of the pro-Trump mob that flooded the Capitol began chanting, “Hang Mike Pence!” in the mistaken belief that Pence could have prevented Congress from certifying Biden’s victory. The Presidential Election Reform Act would clearly reaffirm that the vice president has no role in validating presidential elections beyond acting as a person overseeing the counting process, prohibiting that person from altering the results. It would also expand the threshold required for members of both houses to oppose a state’s results, as well as clarify the role governors play in the process. Finally, it would make clear that state legislatures cannot change election rules retroactively to change the results. “In Hollywood there’s always a sequel, often to a really bad movie. We’re headed for another run in 2024 unless we change the Election Counting Act of 1887,” Rep. John Raymond Garamendi (D-Calif.) said on the House floor Wednesday before a procedural vote on the bill. “We have to change the law. It’s ancient,” he added. “It is already proven since January 6 and the coup attempt then [when people tried] to use this law to install into the presidency a person who had not been lawfully elected by the American people.” Cheney and Lofgren are members of the bipartisan House committee investigating the rebellion on Capitol Hill and have offered sober assessments of the dangers of similar future attacks on American democracy and the peaceful transfer of power. The next Jan. 6 committee hearing is scheduled for Sept. 28. In a joint op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, Cheney and Lofgren said more remains to be done by the committee on the extent of Trump’s plans to overturn the 2020 presidential election, but they also had an “obligation to recommend legislation to make sure such an attack never happens again.” Trump, they pointed out, has continued to spread baseless claims of widespread voter fraud, and pro-Trump candidates in state and local elections across the country have bought into those lies. “This raises the prospect of another attempt to steal a presidential election, perhaps with another attempt to corrupt the congressional process of counting electoral votes,” Cheney and Lofgren wrote. They added: “Our proposal aims to preserve the rule of law for all future presidential elections by ensuring that self-interested politicians cannot rob the people of the guarantee that our government derives its power from the consent of the governed.” The bill passed the House Rules Committee on Tuesday by a vote of 9-3. Republicans — 139 of whom refused to certify Biden’s victory — oppose the measure. The Biden administration supports the bill, calling it another step in “critically needed reform of the 135-year-old election count law.” “Americans deserve greater clarity in the process by which their votes will lead to the election of President and Vice President,” the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement Wednesday. “As [the Presidential Election Reform Act] moving forward with the legislative process, the administration looks forward to working with Congress to ensure lasting reform consistent with Congress’s constitutional authority to protect voting rights, count electoral votes, and strengthen our democracy.” Sens. Joe Manchin III (DW.Va.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) have introduced legislation in the Senate, the Electoral College Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, which differs from the House in the threshold for the members of both bodies. object. Bipartisan support for the Senate bill is growing, with 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans co-sponsors as of Wednesday afternoon. “We are pleased that bipartisan support continues to grow for these common sense and much-needed reforms to the Election Counting Act of 1887,” Collins and Manchin said in a joint statement. “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 fix the flaws in this archaic and ambiguous law.” Marianna Sotomayor and Leigh Ann Caldwell contributed to this report.
