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Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined Senators Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) in introducing the PROTECT Electoral College Act, a bill that would 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 that are unconstitutionally disregarding state election laws.

“Democracy is held together by people’s confidence in elections and a willingness to abide by their results,” Rubio said. “While I believe the results of the presidential election were correctly decided, there is absolutely no doubt that the actions taken by some states raised serious constitutional questions. We cannot allow that to happen again, which is why I’m proud to join Senator Hagerty in supporting this legislation to safeguard every American’s vote, restore confidence in our elections, and preserve our system of federalism.”

“The Constitution rightly commits the authority of state elections to state legislatures, not Congress, but Congress must protect the Electoral College and should not subsidize an unconstitutional process in which state election laws are trampled on, like we saw in some states in 2020,” Hagerty said. “Democrats are already advancing H.R. 1, a sweeping proposal that would federalize elections. This is a radical policy that would effectively require states to use insecure election practices that are highly susceptible to fraud. I will fight such legislation while working on constructive solutions like the PROTECT Electoral College Act to safeguard every American’s vote, restore confidence in our elections, and preserve our system of federalism. Tennessee taxpayer dollars should not be sent to subsidize unconstitutional election practices in other states.”

“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,” Cramer said. “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. 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.” 

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