September 28, 2022

ICYMI: Manchin, Capito Applaud Senate Rules Committee Vote to Advance Bipartisan Electoral Count Act Reform

Washington, DC — Yesterday, U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), lead Democratic cosponsor of the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), a member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, applauded the 14-1 vote in the Senate Rules Committee to advance their bipartisan Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act. The legislation will ensure the electoral votes tallied by Congress accurately reflect each state’s vote for President and will promote a peaceful transition of power between the outgoing and incoming President.
 
“I am pleased the Senate Rules Committee has advanced our critical, bipartisan legislation,” said Senator Manchin. “From the beginning, our bipartisan group has shared a vision of drafting legislation to fix the flaws of the archaic and ambiguous Electoral Count Act of 1887, and today’s announcement marks a significant step in the right direction. I encourage all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support these much-needed, commonsense reforms, and we will continue our bipartisan efforts to get the bill signed into law.”
 
“I have long-championed our decentralized electoral system, which gives states the power to design and enforce their election laws to meet the needs of their constituents. That is why I proudly joined the Senate working group to introduce the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, and strongly supported our bipartisan legislation by voting in favor of passage in yesterday’s Business Meeting,” Senator Capito said. “This legislation is the result of months of careful deliberation and debate, and I firmly believe that it will tackle our most pressing shared concerns. As a member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, I will continue to push for final passage of this legislation, and hope that my colleagues, who profess to share concerns regarding the certification process, will do the same.”
 
Senators Manchin and Capito are joined as cosponsors by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Rob Portman (R-OH), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mark Warner (D-VA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Todd Young (R-IN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Michael Bennet (D-CO) Alex Padilla (D-CA), Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH).
 
The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act includes the following provisions:
 
1)   Electoral Count Reform Act: This section would reform and modernize the outdated Electoral Count Act of 1887 to ensure that electoral votes tallied by Congress accurately reflect each state’s vote for President. It would replace ambiguous provisions of the 19th-century law with clear procedures that maintain appropriate state and federal roles in selecting the President and Vice President of the United States as set forth in the U.S. Constitution.
 
2)   Presidential Transition Improvement Act: This section would help to promote the orderly transfer of power by providing clear guidelines for when eligible candidates for President or Vice President may receive federal resources to support their transition into office.
 
A timeline of Senators Manchin and Capito’s work to reform the Electoral Count Act of 1887:

  • On September 22, 2022, Senator Manchin announced the addition of two more Senators as cosponsors of the legislation to reform and modernize the outdated Electoral Count Act of 1887, bringing the total to 22 cosponsors.
  • On September 21, 2022, Senators Manchin and Capito announced their bipartisan Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act had secured 10 Democrat and 10 Republican cosponsors in the Senate.
  • On August 3, 2022, Senator Manchin spoke before the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration on the importance of the legislation.
  • On July 20, 2022, Senators Manchin and Capito introduced the bipartisan Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act to update the outdated Electoral Count Act of 1887.

A one-pager on the Electoral Count Reform Act is available here.
A one-pager on the Presidential Transition Improvement Act is available here.
The full text of the legislation is available here.