SaysWho? Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 Senators announce bipartisan bills to stop candidates from stealing elections WWW.NBCNEWS.COM The two measures would overhaul the Electoral Count Act and close other loopholes in election law in an attempt to prevent future coup attempts. Quote The bills seek to close loopholes in election law that then-President Donald Trump and his allies tried to exploit to keep him in power despite his defeat in the 2020 election. The first bill would clarify the vice president's role in counting Electoral College votes, raise the bar for members of Congress to object, and try to prevent fake slates of electors from interfering in the process. The second is aimed at protecting election workers. Quote The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act would overhaul the 1887 Electoral Count Act by making clear that the vice president's role in confirming an election result is "solely ministerial" — that she or he doesn't have unilateral power to reject electors. It would also raise the threshold for forcing a vote on objecting to electors — from one House and Senate member to one-fifth of each chamber, the authors said. Quote In all, 147 Republicans, including eight senators, objected to certifying electors on Jan. 6, 2021. The bill would also amend the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 to ensure that candidates of both parties receive resources to aid the transition, in limited circumstances "when the outcome of an election is reasonably in doubt," according to a summary. Quote One of the thorniest issues for the group was how to make sure the correct electors for the winning candidate are counted. The legislation would identify the state's governor unless otherwise specified by the state, as the person responsible for submitting the election result — an attempt to avoid dealing with competing slates of electors. Quote And the legislation would eliminate "a provision of an archaic 1845 law that could be used by state legislatures to override the popular vote," the summary continued. The second bill, the Enhanced Election Security and Protection Act, would double penalties under federal law for people "who threaten or intimidate election officials, poll watchers, voters, or candidates," the summary of the proposals said. It would also add Postal Service guidance to improve the processes for mail-in ballots, reauthorize the Election Assistance Commission for five years and make clear that electronic election records must be preserved. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 This is meaningless, SCOTUS will just give Trump or DeSantis or whomever whatever they need regardless of how "bipartisan" this is. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stepee Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 It’s not meaningless, it makes it more difficult. It should definitely be done. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 1 minute ago, stepee said: It’s not meaningless, it makes it more difficult. It should definitely be done. Nothing is too difficult when you have Thomas writing the insane decisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uaarkson Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 3 minutes ago, Jason said: This is meaningless, SCOTUS will just give Trump or DeSantis or whomever whatever they need regardless of how "bipartisan" this is. Lol this is why we can’t have nice things 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaysWho? Posted July 20, 2022 Author Share Posted July 20, 2022 6 minutes ago, stepee said: It’s not meaningless, it makes it more difficult. It should definitely be done. You've been jason'd 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stepee Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 2 minutes ago, SaysWho? said: You've been jason'd he’s literally coming at this with the fucking gun control doesn’t do anything argument 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazyPiranha Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 Depending on how pessimistic you are this doesn’t make it harder, it just makes it more nakedly obvious. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperSpreader Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 Unconstitutional! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricofoley Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 Quote And the legislation would eliminate "a provision of an archaic 1845 law that could be used by state legislatures to override the popular vote," the summary continued. I hope this bit is solid, legally, because having gotten used to the absolute worst case scenario being what happens, my first thought when this passed was that state legislatures in 2024 will just assign electors to Trump/DeSantis/whoever regardless of what the vote was, and when it gets to certification day and Dems try and raise a fuss they just say, "Oh, but you said you're not supposed to object to electors anymore! That this is strictly ceremonial now!" But with this bit, it sounds like maybe they actually have thought that far ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 The bill is good and necessary. Ignore the folks that will not be satisfied with anything. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 This is good. Requiring 20% of senators to object alone is a very good step. At the very least it raises the bar for coordination which makes it much more difficult to actually do a coup. That said laws will do nothing to stop bad faith legal theories (of which there are still a few that I know of!) from overturning election results so we do have to hope that ~half of a given party’s senators aren’t brain damaged so to avoid the courts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneticBlueprint Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 This is absolutely awesome. I am wondering just how bipartisan it is though. Bipartisan enough to clear 60 votes in the Senate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 25 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said: This is absolutely awesome. I am wondering just how bipartisan it is though. Bipartisan enough to clear 60 votes in the Senate? If it can’t clear 60 then the 1/5 requirement it would impose is pointless anyway! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucoe Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 Due to this being sponsored by Manchin, the rest of the Democrats should reject it and just say that they can't support something like that. 1 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaysWho? Posted July 24, 2022 Author Share Posted July 24, 2022 According to @Signifyin(g)Monkey, it's getting bipartisan support. Hopefully that means enough Republicans sign on with all Democrats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 20 minutes ago, SaysWho? said: According to @Signifyin(g)Monkey, it's getting bipartisan support. Hopefully that means enough Republicans sign on with all Democrats. @Signifyin(g)Monkey will decide if it's getting bipartisan support. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaysWho? Posted July 24, 2022 Author Share Posted July 24, 2022 12 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said: @Signifyin(g)Monkey will decide if it's getting bipartisan support. But that’s what he did! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signifyin(g)Monkey Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 1 hour ago, SaysWho? said: According to @Signifyin(g)Monkey, it's getting bipartisan support. Hopefully that means enough Republicans sign on with all Democrats. I’m just parroting the NPR headline. I am their willing propagandist. I will do literally anything for more episodes of ‘All Things Considered’. Take it all with a grain of bath salts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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