An 1887 law on how presidential votes are counted left the door open for insurrection, Sen. Murphy says. He’s pushing to change it

Seeking to avoid a possible repeat of the January 6 insurrection, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy is pushing a bipartisan election reform bill that is designed to block any overturning of a presidential election.

Murphy has joined with Republicans and fellow Democrats in an attempt to rewrite the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which has not been updated in a substantial way in more than 130 years.

The law was originally adopted by Congress to establish the process for tabulating the votes to name the next president. The method was largely seen as relatively pro forma in the past, but last year’s insurrection that led to more than 880 people being charged has changed that outlook.

“The law is incomplete. It’s ambiguous,’' Murphy told reporters Monday in Hartford. “Its weakness was part of the reason why Donald Trump thought he could steal the election in 2020. ... Donald Trump tried to throw out certain electors through a vote in Congress on January 6. That’s why he mustered thousands of people to Washington. That’s why those individuals stormed the Capitol because they believed they could intimidate and bully Congress into throwing out the votes of a handful of states.’'

A major change, if the new law is enacted, would require 20 Senators and 20% of the U.S. House of Representatives to prompt a debate on removing a slate of electors.

“We need to be in the business of stopping another January 6,’' Murphy said. “We have raised the threshold for Congress to consider throwing out the slates of electors.’'

Under the current law that dates back more than a century, only one senator is needed to start the debate and force a vote.

“On January 6, it was [U.S. Senators] Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz that prompted the debate that gave the excuse for Trump to send his forces to the Capitol,’' Murphy said.

A second major reform would be to clarify the duties of the vice president, which became controversial as Trump pressured Vice President Mike Pence and declared later that Pence had let him down. Democrats said the law already was clear, but the bipartisan group wants to make it even more certain.

“Our reform law makes it crystal clear that the vice president’s role is simply ceremonial,’' Murphy said. “There’s no discretion for the vice president when it comes to which electoral votes get counted and which don’t.’'

While the country has been split on many issues regarding the election, Murphy said he believes the bipartisan coalition will be large enough to break the filibuster and pass the reform bill into law between the November election and the Christmas break for Congress.

“There’s probably 60 votes in the Senate,’' Murphy said.

The measure is supported and coordinated by nationally known senators such as Republican Susan Collins of Maine and Democrat Joe Manchin III of West Virginia.

Lawmakers are also looking for support at the state level to back up their federal partners.

“The foundations of democracy in Connecticut are strong,’' deputy Secretary of the State Scott Bates told reporters as he stood next to Murphy. “We need to make sure that they are strong everywhere across this country. In the 2020 presidential election in Connecticut, our elections were safe, secure and without real incident. That was thanks to thousands of people across this state — registrars of voters, town clerks, the moderators, the poll workers — all working hard to make sure that the elections were without incident — and we can be proud of how we conduct our elections here in Connecticut.’'

Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com