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Democratic Senator Joe Manchin and Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski showed their optimism about their work to reform the Voter Recount Act , Manchin said it will “absolutely” pass during a bipartisan interview.
“I absolutely believe it will happen. Now, there will be some people who say that it is not enough. There will be some people who say that it is more than we should do or that we don’t need it. And what we’re going to do is try to get them all together and say, ‘Listen, this is what we need to do because this is what caused the problem. And that is what we can do. So let’s do it,’” Manchin said in a CNN interview.
Both lawmakers they are part of the bipartisan effort focused on making changes to a 19th century law known as the Electoral Count Law introduced by the states.
Electoral law experts and callers for reform have repeatedly warned that, in light of the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol, the law must updated and strengthened to ensure that the party that did not win can never alter the results of the Electoral College.
Indicating the vagueness of the law, Manchin said that Republican lawmakers saw “a way” to nullify the election and that “when a congressman and a senator can stop the authentic count of a state, it is wrong”.
For his part, Murkowski said that the bipartisan group negotiating the reform is going to “adopt the Goldilocks approach” to find common ground between senators of the two parties, while acknowledging that compromise may leave some unsatisfied.
“Like I said, we’re going to take the Goldilocks approach here. We are going to try to find what is correct,” he said. “And it won’t be the right thing for everyone, but will it be a step forward? Will it be important for the country? Yes”.
Furthermore, the Republican senator added that the working group is also analyzing the Help America Vote Act on Election Commissions to increase protections for poll workers and safeguard the chain of custody of ballots once they are cast.
“We want to make sure that… if you are going to be a poll worker, if you are going to be in the voting booth, do not feel intimidated, threatened or harassed “, Murkowski said. “I believe that we are sitting down, again, as members in good faith to ensure that electoral integrity in the 50 states moves forward in a positive manner. ”.
In a statement by Trump, he said that then Vice President Mike Pence could nullify the presidential election of 2020, the day of the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Affirmed that the bipartisan group of legislators working to reform the Electoral Count Law proves that his claim that Pence had the power to overturn the election of 2020.
In this sense, Pence said that “President (Donald) Trump is wrong ” by stating that he had the right to nullify the elections of 2020, his most strong now to the continued efforts of the former president to re-litigate the elections.
Although the law is vague, it is clear that the role of vice president is ceremonial and does not include the power to overturn the outcome of a presidential election.
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