WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Phillips voted for bipartisan legislation to protect free and fair elections, uphold the rule of law and defend the Constitution.  Crafted by Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) in response to extremist attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election – including the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol – the Presidential Election Reform Act will implement several common-sense measures to safeguard Minnesotans votes against any future attempt to interfere with the certification of election results.

“When the Electoral Count Act was signed into law over 100 years ago, no one could have envisioned how its language would be twisted in an anti-democratic effort to prevent the certification of a lawfully elected president,” Rep. Phillips said. “I was proud to vote today on a bill to modernize and clarify the process for counting votes in a presidential election to ensure that Congress carries out this duty as required by the Constitution—and prevent the events of January 6, 2021, from ever happening again.”

Building on the work of the bipartisan Select Committee to Investigate January 6th, the Presidential Election Reform Act will implement several measures to update and strengthen the Electoral Count Act of 1887 to ensure the uninterrupted certification of future presidential elections, as required by the Constitution. 

This legislation will:

• Reaffirm that the vice president has no authority or discretion to reject official electoral slates or delay the count in any material way
• Detail the Constitutional grounds upon which Members may object to a state’s electoral votes
• Increasing the objection threshold to one-third of each chamber – rather than allowing a single Member of each chamber to raise an objection
• Requiring a majority vote in each chamber to sustain an objection
• Prevent rogue governors from unlawfully subverting the will of the people
• Requiring governors to transmit lawful election results to Congress in a timely fashion
• Authorizing presidential candidates to obtain a federal court order compelling a noncompliant state to deliver its election results
• Prevent radical state legislators from attempting to alter the outcome of an election
• Requiring states to conduct presidential elections under state law as established prior to Election Day
• Barring state legislatures from “taking back” their electoral appointment power to overturn the results of an election
• Allowing presidential candidates to seek a federal court order enforcing state election officials’ Constitutional obligation to count ballots and certify election results

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