For those of you who are curious, here is a link to the amendments to the ‘Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022’ proposed by Senators Klobuchar and Blunt. These amendments were unanimously approved by the Rules Committee yesterday (September 27, 2022). They do not alter the overall intent or structure of the bill, but do clarify certain provisions. In particular, the new bill clarifies several issues that have worried some election lawyers:

• concerns that a Governor “conclusive” certification binds courts
• ambiguity about whether federal and state court lawsuits can proceed
• mandatory review by the Supreme Court

With Senator Pat Toomey’s agreement to support reform earlier this week, the Senate Bill has the votes to achieve cloture. In that regard, Mitch McConnell’s recent announcement comes after this particular political ship has sailed.