Unrelated provisions aimed at saving democracy were tucked away in the last bill Congress passed for 2012.
The omnibus spending bill of 4,000 pages contained 33 pages that reformated the 1887 Electoral Count Act.
It outlines how future presidential elections will be certified to avoid a repeat of the attack on Capitol in 2021.
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski stated that “we need to ensure that no vice president is ever faced with uncertainty as to the extent of their authority when it comes to certification elections.”
Donald Trump lost the 2020 election and his supporters tried to use the ambiguities of the 1887 law to delay or block certification. They also tried to pressure Mike Pence, the then-Vice President.
Congress passed the bill to clarify that the role of the vice president on certification day is ceremonial. To prevent fraud in election results, it also clarifies how states must submit their electoral college votes.
Murkowski was one of the senators who helped negotiate the reforms.
She stated that this was part of a collaborative effort over many months, and a good bipartisan group. “I believe that 16 senators were involved in the process over the course of the months.”
Murkowski was the original co-sponsor this summer. It had 15 Republican sponsors when it was added into the spending bill.
U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan voted against large spending bill along with a majority of Republicans from the House and Senate. His office didn’t respond Wednesday to an email inquiry about his views regarding the electoral reform portion of the bill.
Mary Peltola, a congresswoman, voted in favor of a similar bill in the House. It was one her first votes, and it passed largely on party lines. She also voted in favor of the spending bill, which included the final legislation.
