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The bill would make it more difficult to overturn an election.

Recently, in an effort to ensure an event like the January 6, 2021 riot and insurrection does not happen again, a bipartisan group of US Senators penned a new bill that would update the Electoral Count Act of 1887. This act is what determines the counting and ratification of votes in a United States elections, and several weaknesses were exploited by former President Donald Trump to incite the January 6 riot. If it can be updated, it would, at least ideally, prevent that kind of riot from happening again.

Surprisingly, the bill has received outspoken support from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel, who said on Tuesday that the January 6 riot “certainly underscored the need for an update.”

“I strongly support the modest changes that our colleagues in the working group have fleshed out after literally months of detailed discussions,” McConnell said. “I’ll proudly support the legislation, provided that nothing more than technical changes are made to its current form.”

“Congress’ process for counting the presidential electors’ votes was written 135 years ago. The chaos that came to a head on January 6th of last year certainly underscored the need for an update,” added McConnell. “So did Januaries 2001, 2005 and 2017. In each of which, Democrats tried to challenge the lawful election of a Republican president.”

Senator Mitch McConnell endorsed a bill to overhaul the Electoral Count Act and prevent a repeat of Jan. 6, boosting its chances of becoming law. https://t.co/Dan81G4eti

— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 27, 2022

McConnell’s support will give the bill a major boost in its chances for passage, though it will still need to go through the House. Several members of the House have penned their own version of the bill, which will likely stall proceedings as they work toward a compromise.