Maria Cantwell: “we meet in historic session today. The twelfth amendment to the Constitution sets forth the requirements for casting…”

“we meet in historic session today. The twelfth amendment to the Constitution sets forth the requirements for casting electoral votes and counting those votes in Congress. The electors are required to meet, cast and certify their ballots and transmit them to the Vice President in his capacity as President of the Senate. With the exception of objections to the electoral votes from the State of Florida in the 2000 election, objections to an entire slate of votes from a State have been rare. But we have had one today, which gives us the opportunity to discuss and debate a very important issue for our country and for the citizens of my State--the issue of whether we have ensured that every vote is counted. I will vote to uphold the outcome of this most recent election. However, I think we have more work to do in the area of election reform, and I think the discussion we are having today is appropriate and overdue. In 2001, I supported the passage of the Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act. That law was designed to protect voting rights and ensure the integrity of the electoral system in our nation. I did so because I feel that making certain that each citizen's vote is counted and promoting public trust and confidence in our election process is crucial. The job is far from over. We may need to have additional hearings and we may need to take additional legislative action. There have been troubling reports from this most recent election.…”