Jan. 6 panel members offer long-awaited elections reform bill

Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), two members of the Jan. 6 House panel, introduced a bill Monday to reform the Electoral College Act, offering a number of provisions to protect elections from interference by state and federal lawmakers.

The Presidential Election Reform Act (PERA) would make clear that the role of the vice president in presiding over the counting of electoral votes is purely “ministerial.”

It also takes aim at potential action from the lawmakers’ colleagues to object to states’ electoral slates, requiring that a third of the members from both chambers must object to the certification, up from just one member for each chamber, while narrowing the grounds under which they can bring such an objection.