WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced the PROTECT Electoral College Act, a bill to protect the Electoral College process and the authority it commits to state legislatures to set election laws by prohibiting federal election security grants from being awarded to states unconstitutionally disregarding state election laws.

“Instead of working with Republicans to craft reasonable election security improvements, Democrats have taken a two-pronged approach to enact an extreme vision for America’s elections. While Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats push a bill to federalize elections that tramples on free speech and states’ rights, liberal activists are working at the state level to undermine the Electoral College and take away the voice states like North Dakota have in choosing our president. Both efforts must be stopped,” said Senator Cramer. “Our bill protects the integrity of the Electoral College, preserves the constitutional duty of states to oversee elections, and ensures taxpayer dollars are not used to violate existing election laws. Enacting it would be a common sense way for Congress to help restore the American people’s trust in our elections.”

The PROTECT Electoral College Act would prohibit federal taxpayer dollars from being used to aid and abet states in modifying their election procedures in violation of the Constitution. The legislation, supported by Heritage Action, would amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to condition future election security grant awards on certification by the state legislature that:

  • Any mail-in voter verification procedures are established in statute;
  • Unsolicited mail-in balloting and ballot harvesting are prohibited, unless specifically authorized by statute;
  • Non-statutory, emergency COVID-19-related election procedure changes will end once the public health emergency is over;
  • Ballot counting observation laws are followed; and
  • The state has rectified any previous noncompliance with these provisions or departures from state election statutes.

The bill would also require the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a state-by-state report on whether increased unsolicited mail-in balloting, changes to mail-in voter verification procedures, ballot harvesting, or material alterations to election procedures occurred during the 2020 election and, if so, what state authority or directive led to such changes. The report must also cover whether, in each state, there were specific allegations of failing to comply with ballot counting observation laws or other election laws.  Finally, the report must detail the state’s use of election security funds in connection with the 2020 election, including whether they were used for any activities detailed in the report, and note whether the state legislature has taken subsequent action on any such matters.

Learn more here.