The Senate is moving forward with two important bipartisan bills which work in tandem to prevent anyone from overthrowing the presidential election during the certification process.
The first bill will work is by giving the 1887 Electoral Count Act a thorough remodel. Trump used this to man his attack on our Democracy and could easily do it again should the legislation not pass. Just this week, he called Wisconsin officials trying to get them to rescind some votes from the 2020 presidential election. The senators’ new law makes it very clear that the VP’s role is strictly ceremonial:
‘[The vice president’s role is] solely ministerial and that he or she does not have any power to solely determine, accept, reject, or otherwise adjudicate disputes over electors.’
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) is enthusiastic about two news pieces of legislation, according to his Senate page:
‘[Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Manchin spear-headed] the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act and the Enhanced Election Security and Protection Act.’
There were nine Republican and seven Democratic senators co-sponsoring the dual bills. The first bill further defines the vice president’s role as strictly ceremonial and limits a candidate’s resources. The second addresses election security.
Senator Mark Warner said their bills makes it harder for any candidate to steal an election during the period when a joint session of Congress comes together to certify the nation’s latest president, according to CNN:
‘Anything we can do and show to the American public that we realize how serious that day was, and that we’re going to do all we can to prevent a repeat of January 6th, is a step in the right direction.’
Senator Warner believes that since the bills had bipartisan support, they would prevent an unhappy loser from successfully overthrowing the government. A smooth transition of power is a tenant of our democracy:
‘Any future vice president cannot, should not, will not be able to overturn legitimate votes of Americans and their electors that states vote.’
The second bill tackles election security. First, by increasing federal penalties against anyone:
‘[Who] threatens or intimidates election officials as well as increase penalties for the tampering with election records.’
In the 2020 election, Trump pushed his Vice President Mike Pence to toss a “state-certified electoral results.” Fortunately, Pence stood up to what was a significant pressure campaign trying to get him to throw the election back to Trump.
But Pence refused to fold. As a result, he became a target of the the former president. At that point, the ex-president was enraged and urged his many thousands of followers to attack Mike Pence. His January 6, 2021 mob began to chant “hang Mike Pence,” and the hunt for him began.
Hopefully, these two bills will stop a wily loser’s attempts to violently overthrow the American government. It could have easily become a massacre.
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
In Gloria Christie Reports & Three White Lions Substack newsletters, Gloria Christie includes her weekâs most important news/ commentary stories in the liberal online newspaper The Bipartisan Report. Gloria Christie Report her newsletters are for people on the go. Written in her own unique style with a twist of humor in a briefer version of Bipartisan Report. Christieâs Mueller Report Adventures In Bite-Sizes a real-life compelling spy mystery (in progress). Find her here on Facebook. Or at Three White Lions her book on Amazon Kindle Vella.
