September 30, 2022

Manchin, Collins Announce 32 Cosponsors for Bipartisan Electoral Count Act Reform

Charleston, WV – Today, U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Susan Collins (R-ME) announced their bipartisan Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act now has 32 cosponsors in the Senate. 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. The new cosponsors include Senate Leaders Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Rules Committee Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Ranking Member Roy Blunt (R-MO).
 
“We are pleased to announce that the Senate’s ECA Reform effort now has 32 cosponsors,” said Senators Manchin and Collins. “This carefully crafted reform is the result of months of bipartisan negotiation in the Senate.  We are grateful to have the support of so many of our colleagues including both Senate Leaders and the leaders of the Senate Rules Committee.  We will keep working to enact this important legislation this year.”
 
Senators Manchin and Collins are joined as cosponsors by Senators 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), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), 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), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Roy Blunt (R-MO), John Thune (R-SD), John Cornyn (R-TX), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Tom Carper (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).
 
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1)   Electoral Count Reform Act: This section would reform and modernize the outdated Electoral Count Act of 1887 to ensure that electoral votes tallied by Congress accurately reflect each state’s vote for President.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’s work to reform the Electoral Count Act of 1887:

  • On September 28, 2022, Senator Manchin applauded the 14-1 vote in the Senate Rules Committee to advance the bipartisan Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act.
  • On September 22, 2022, Senators Manchin and Collins 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, Senator Manchin announced the 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, Senator Manchin 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.