A bipartisan group of Senators led by Republican Susan Collins of Maine and Joe Manchin of West Virginia have unveiled legislation that will close ambiguities in the 1887 Electoral Count Act that Donald Trump and his supporters attempted to exploit in an effort to overturn the 2020 election, the New York Times reports.
The group is putting forth two pieces of legislation. The first, the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, defines the role of the Vice President in the certification of the slates of electors as simply an administrative function without any power to “solely determine, accept, reject, or otherwise adjudicate” the legitimacy of certified electors submitted by the states. It also prevents state legislatures from submitting a slate of electors that does not adhere to the vote of the state’s population.
The second, the Presidential Transition Improvement Act, allows for multiple candidates to receive federal aid to create transition teams should the outcome of an election continue to be in doubt after Election Day, providing for a smoother transition of power. The act would prevent the fuckery undertaken by the Trump Administration to prevent the incoming Biden team from getting access to necessary functions of government to support the transition of power.