A6 BAKER CITY HERALD • SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2022
LOCAL & NATION
Bipartisan bills would overhaul Electoral College count
the help of outside experts, serious
consideration is assured.
In a statement, Matthew Weil, ex-
ecutive director of the Democracy
Program at the Bipartisan Policy
Center, called the framework a “criti-
cal step” in shoring up ambiguities in
the Electoral Count Act.
After Trump lost the 2020 elec-
tion, the defeated president orches-
trated an unprecedented attempt to
challenge the electors sent from bat-
tleground states to the joint session
of Congress on Jan. 6, when the vice
president presides over certification.
Under the proposed changes, the
law would be updated to ensure the
governor from each state is initially
responsible for submitting electors,
as a way to safeguard against states
sending alternative or fake elector
slates.
Additionally, the law would spell
out that the vice president presides
over the joint session in a “solely
ministerial” capacity, according to a
summary page. It says the vice pres-
ident “does not have any power to
solely determine, accept, reject, or
otherwise adjudicate disputes over
electors.”
That provision is a direct reaction
to Trump’s relentless efforts to pres-
sure then Vice President Mike Pence
to reject the electors being sent from
certain battleground states as a way
to halt the certification or tip it away
from Joe Biden’s victory.
The bill also specifies the proce-
dures around presidential transitions,
including when the election outcome
is disputed, to ensure the peaceful
transfer of power from one adminis-
tration to the next.
That’s another pushback to the way
Trump blocked Biden’s team from
accessing some information for his
transition to the White House.
The second proposal, revolving
around election security, would dou-
ble the federal penalties to up to two
years in prison for individuals who
“threaten or intimidate election offi-
cials, poll watchers, voters or candi-
dates,” according to the summary.
It also would seek to improve the
way the U.S. Postal Service handles
election mail and “provide guidance to
states to improve their mail-in ballot
processes.” Mail-in ballots and the role
of the Postal Service came under great
scrutiny during the 2020 election.
An Associated Press review of po-
tential cases of voter fraud in six bat-
tleground states found no evidence of
widespread fraud that could change
the outcome of the election. A sepa-
rate AP review of drop boxes used for
mailed ballots also found no signifi-
cant problems.
The need for election worker pro-
tections was front and center at a
separate hearing Wednesday of the
House Committee on Homeland Se-
curity. Election officials and experts
testified that a rise in threats of phys-
ical violence is contributing to staff-
ing shortages across the country and
a loss of experience at local boards of
elections.
“The impact is widespread,” said
up the animal in the end,” Ann said.
“It’s tough to give up the little pig
you’ve raised.”
While his children showed their
animals, Ron helped build the infra-
structure for such events. Ron guided
the fair board through a land swap
in which the county acquired the old
armory building and renovated it
into the current Baker County Events
Center.
“That’s been a huge project for the
fair board to refurbish and make that
bunker into a community center,”
Ron said.
“That’s basically all it was, was a
bunker,” he said with a laugh.
He also helped complete the Cock-
ram Arena, which is dedicated to
former fair board member Fred
Cockram, whose daughter, Michelle
Kasebeg, nominated the Rowans as
fair family for 2022.
Dean Defrees, the vice chairman
of the fair board, also nominated the
family.
“Speaking for myself and the rest
of the board we will attest to the fact
that Ron has been a champion for
the fair, the fairgrounds, the commu-
nity and Baker County,” Defrees said.
“Few people realize the amount of
volunteer time, with Ann’s support,
that Ron has put in over the last 20
years.”
Ron said he hopes to host more
events at the fairgrounds in the fu-
ture: rodeos, horse shows, concerts,
gun shows, trade shows, festival of
trees, high school dances, weddings,
etc.
“The more it gets used, the better,”
he said.
As Ron continues his volunteer
work as the board’s chairman, the
couple still hosts fair animals for the
4-H program on their land over a
decade after their own children have
left the program. Along with a few
other families, the Rowans aim to
provide opportunities for 4-H partic-
ipants who might not have a place to
keep their animals.
The couple said it’s part of “recip-
BY LISA MASCARO
Associated Press
A bipartisan group of senators
agreed Wednesday, July 20 on pro-
posed changes to the Electoral Count
Act, the post-Civil War-era law for
certifying presidential elections that
came under intense scrutiny after the
Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and Don-
ald Trump’s effort to overturn the
2020 election.
Long in the making, the package
introduced by the group led by Sens.
Susan Collins of Maine and Joe Man-
chin of West Virginia is made up of
two separate proposals. One would
clarify the way states submit electors
and the vice president tallies the votes
in Congress. The other would bolster
security for state and local election
officials who have faced violence and
harassment.
“From the beginning, our bipar-
tisan group has shared a vision of
drafting legislation to fix the flaws of
the archaic and ambiguous Electoral
Count Act of 1887,” Collins, Man-
chin and the other 14 senators said in
a joint statement.
“We have developed legislation
that establishes clear guidelines for
our system of certifying and counting
electoral votes,” the group wrote. “We
urge our colleagues in both parties to
support these simple, commonsense
reforms.”
Both Senate Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer and Senate Repub-
lican leader Mitch McConnell have
signaled support for the bipartisan
group, but the final legislative pack-
age will undergo careful scrutiny.
Votes are not likely before fall. But
with broad support from the group
of 16 senators, seven Democrats and
nine Republicans, who have worked
behind closed doors for months with
Rowans
Continued from A1
They were also successful — each
was a champion at the fair, Katie for
her lambs and Brent for his steer.
Other times, though, they didn’t
have such luck.
“They had some really good fairs
and other ones they weren’t very suc-
cessful in, which is just like life,” Ron
said.
The couple agreed that the fair was
a large part of character building for
their children.
“It’s not just learning about the
animals, it’s learning life skills: per-
sistence, caring for an animal, giving
J. Scott Applewhite/AP file
In this Jan. 6, 2021, photo, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, left,
works beside Vice President Mike Pence during the certification of Electoral College
ballots in the presidential election, in the House chamber at the Capitol in Washing-
ton. Shortly afterward, the Capitol was stormed by rioters determined to disrupt the
certification. A bipartisan group of senators announced Wednesday they have agree
to changes to the Electoral Count Act, the law that describes how the presidential
vote is certified.
Neal Kelley, a former registrar of
voters in Orange County, Califor-
nia, who now chairs the Committee
for Safe and Secure Elections. “And,
while the effects on individuals are
devastating, the potential blow to de-
mocracy should not be dismissed.”
Elizabeth Howard, senior coun-
sel at the Brennan Center for Justice,
told the committee that Congress
needs to direct more money and
support toward protecting election
workers’ personal safety, including
by funding local and federal training
programs and providing grants to
enhance security at election directors’
personal residences.
Democratic New Mexico Secretary
of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who
recently reported a series of threats,
told the panel the situation has be-
come worse after former President
Donald Trump’s attacks against the
2020 election result.
“Unfortunately, we are still on a
daily basis, in my state and across the
country, living with the reverberat-
ing effects of the ‘Big Lie’ from 2020,”
she said. “And, as we all know, when
it comes to leadership, what you say
from the very highest echelons of
government power in this country do
have those reverberating effects.”
Some Republican members of
the committee condemned violence
against election workers — and also
drew a parallel to recent threats and
intimidation directed toward some
Supreme Court justices after their
decision to overturn constitutional
protections for abortion.
GOP Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisi-
ana rejected the notion that Trump
and other election skeptics were
solely responsible for the “atmo-
sphere of mistrust” that grew up
around the 2020 election.
rocating” what the fair has provided
to the Rowans and the efforts of ev-
eryone involved.
“There are a lot of people who ha-
ven’t been recognized yet that do a
lot for the fair,” Ann said. “It takes a
village to put it on and make it suc-
cessful.”
The Rowans will be recognized at
the Baker County Events Center on
Tuesday, July 26, during an appreci-
ation dinner and pie auction in sup-
port of the 4-H program. The event,
hosted by Friends of the Fair, begins
at 5:30 and the dinner is at 6:30, fol-
lowed by the auction. It is recom-
mended that guests bring desserts for
the auction.
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