Washington (WBAP/KLIF) – A US Senate committee overwhelmingly advanced a bill aimed a preventing another January 6, with the exception of lone Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.
The bill updates an 1887 elections law and clarify how electoral votes are certified.
The bill dubbed the the ‘Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act,’ is meant to prevent a constitutional crisis during the certification of electoral votes. An issue that arose on Jan. 6, 2021, during the certification of votes. Senator Cruz at that time, rejected Arizona’s 2020 Election results. The bill would raise the threshhold for Senators who aim to thwart the process.
The bill clarifies perceived vagueness in the over century-old law that former President Donald Trump attempted to take advantage of. For example: touting claims that the Vice President has the sole authority to reject the count. The bill also make it more difficult for individual senators to hold up vote certifications as Cruz did.
In debate over the bill Senator Cruz said, “This is a bad bill,” claiming that in infringes on the rights of states in the election process; and said that he believed the bill reduces the role of Congress to act on election fraud.
Listen to an excerpts from Senator Cruz and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who supported the bill:
Several courts and various investigations, including one by the former Trump administration found no wide-spread election fraud. Meantime, in remarks during the debate, Senator Angus King (I/ME) said, “This bill is a modification of a 1883 law that’s already been on the books and not a new effort by Congress to intrude into the electoral process.”
The bi-partisan bill sponsored by Senator(s) Susan Collins (R/ME) and Joe Manchin (D/WV) now moves to the full Senate.
(Copyright 2022 WBAP/KLIF 24/7 News.)
