Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on Wednesday promoted the Electoral Count Act as a way to prevent "bad actors" from manipulating the law when it comes to elections, The Hill reports.
During a hearing on the legislation by the Senate Rules Committee, Manchin said: "As we saw on Jan. 6, 2021, a lot of the 'fixes' established by the original Electoral Count Act are not merely outdated but actually serve as the very mechanisms that bad actors have zeroed in on as a way to potentially invalidate presidential election results."
He continued, "The time to reform the ECA is way past due. Way past due. The time for Congress to act is now."
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who introduced the bipartisan bill along with Manchin, noted that the original legislation is "archaic and ambiguous," having been written over 100 years ago. She also said that the bill is needed to clarify that the vice president holds a "solely ministerial" role when it comes to the tabulation of Electoral College votes, and is not able to reject votes or chose alternative electors.
Manchin also told the panel: "We were all there on Jan. 6. That happened. That was for real. It was not a visit by friends from back home. And we have a duty and responsibility to make sure it never happens again. The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Improvement Act of 2022 is something that our country desperately needs, and the correction needs to happen now."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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