II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4573 

To amend title 3, United States Code, to reform the Electoral Count Act, 

and to amend the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 to provide clear 

guidelines for when and to whom resources are provided by the Administrator of General Services for use in connection with the preparations 

for the assumption of official duties as President or Vice President. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2022 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. PORTMAN, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. 

ROMNEY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. WARNER, Mr. TILLIS, 

Mr. MURPHY, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. COONS, Mr. 

SASSE, and Mr. GRAHAM) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To amend title 3, United States Code, to reform the Electoral Count Act, and to amend the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 to provide clear guidelines for when 

and to whom resources are provided by the Administrator 

of General Services for use in connection with the preparations for the assumption of official duties as President 

or Vice President. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE, ETC. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Im4 provement Act of 2022’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title, etc. 

TITLE I—ELECTORAL COUNT REFORM ACT 

Sec. 101. Short title. 

Sec. 102. Time for appointing electors. 

Sec. 103. Clarification with respect to vacancies in electoral college. 

Sec. 104. Certificate of ascertainment of appointment of electors. 

Sec. 105. Duties of the Archivist. 

Sec. 106. Meeting of electors. 

Sec. 107. Transmission of certificates of votes. 

Sec. 108. Failure of certificate of votes to reach recipients. 

Sec. 109. Clarifications relating to counting electoral votes. 

Sec. 110. Rules relating to joint meeting. 

Sec. 111. Severability. 

TITLE II—PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION IMPROVEMENT ACT 

Sec. 201. Short title. 

Sec. 202. Modifications to Presidential Transition Act of 1963. 

7 TITLE I—ELECTORAL COUNT 

8 REFORM ACT 

9 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

10 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Electoral Count Re11 form Act of 2022’’. 

12 SEC. 102. TIME FOR APPOINTING ELECTORS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 3, United States Code, is 

14 amended by striking sections 1 and 2 and inserting the 

15 following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 1. Time of appointing electors 

2 ‘‘The electors of President and Vice President shall 

3 be appointed, in each State, on election day, in accordance 

4 with the laws of the State enacted prior to election day.’’. 

5 (b) ELECTION DAY.—Section 21 of title 3, United 

6 States Code, is amended by redesignating subsections (a) 

7 and (b) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively, and by 

8 inserting before paragraph (2) (as so redesignated) the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(1) ‘election day’ means the Tuesday next 

11 after the first Monday in November, in every fourth 

12 year succeeding every election of a President and 

13 Vice President held in each State, except, in the case 

14 of a State that appoints electors by popular vote, if 

15 the State modifies the period of voting as neces16 sitated by extraordinary and catastrophic events as 

17 provided under laws of the State enacted prior to 

18 such day, ‘election day’ shall include the modified 

19 period of voting.’’. 

20 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con21 tents for chapter 1 of title 3, United States Code, is 

22 amended by striking the item relating to section 1 and 

23 inserting the following: 

‘‘1. Time of appointing electors.’’. 


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1 SEC. 103. CLARIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO VACANCIES IN 

2 ELECTORAL COLLEGE. 

3 Section 4 of title 3, United States Code, is amended 

4 by inserting ‘‘enacted prior to election day’’ after ‘‘by 

5 law’’. 

6 SEC. 104. CERTIFICATE OF ASCERTAINMENT OF APPOINT7 MENT OF ELECTORS. 

8 (a) DETERMINATION.—Section 5 of title 3, United 

9 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘§ 5. Certificate of ascertainment of appointment of 

11 electors 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

13 ‘‘(1) CERTIFICATION.—Not later than the date 

14 that is 6 days before the time fixed for the meeting 

15 of the electors, the executive of each State shall 

16 issue a certificate of ascertainment of appointment 

17 of electors, under and in pursuance of the laws of 

18 such State providing for such appointment and as19 certainment enacted prior to election day. 

20 ‘‘(2) FORM OF CERTIFICATE.—Each certificate 

21 of ascertainment of appointment of electors shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) set forth the names of the electors 

23 appointed and the canvass or other determina24 tion under the laws of such State of the number 

25 of votes given or cast for each person for whose 


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1 appointment any and all votes have been given 

2 or cast; 

3 ‘‘(B) bear the seal of the State; and 

4 ‘‘(C) contain at least one security feature, 

5 as determined by the State, for purposes of 

6 verifying the authenticity of such certificate. 

7 ‘‘(b) TRANSMISSION.—It shall be the duty of the ex8 ecutive of each State— 

9 ‘‘(1) to transmit to the Archivist of the United 

10 States, by the most expeditious method available, the 

11 certificate of ascertainment of appointment of elec12 tors; and 

13 ‘‘(2) to transmit to the electors of such State, 

14 on or before the day on which the electors are re15 quired to meet under section 7, six duplicate-origi16 nals of the same certificate. 

17 ‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF CERTIFICATE AS CONCLU18 SIVE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 

20 15— 

21 ‘‘(A) the certificate of ascertainment of ap22 pointment of electors issued pursuant to this 

23 section shall be treated as conclusive with re24 spect to the determination of electors appointed 

25 by the State; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) any certificate of ascertainment of 

2 appointment of electors as required to be re3 vised by any subsequent State or Federal judi4 cial relief granted prior to the date of the meet5 ing of electors shall replace and supersede any 

6 other certificates submitted pursuant to this 

7 section. 

8 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF FEDERAL QUES9 TIONS.—The determination of Federal courts on 

10 questions arising under the Constitution or laws of 

11 the United States with respect to a certificate of as12 certainment of appointment of electors shall be con13 clusive. 

14 ‘‘(d) VENUE AND EXPEDITED PROCEDURE.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any action brought by an 

16 aggrieved candidate for President or Vice President 

17 that arises under the Constitution or laws of the 

18 United States with respect to the issuance of the 

19 certification required under section (a)(1), or the 

20 transmission of such certification as required under 

21 subsection (b), shall be subject to the following 

22 rules: 

23 ‘‘(A) VENUE.—The venue for such action 

24 shall be the Federal district court of the FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jul 23, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4573.IS S4573

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1 eral district in which the State capital is lo2 cated. 

3 ‘‘(B) 3-JUDGE PANEL.—Such action shall 

4 be heard by a district court of three judges, 

5 convened pursuant to section 2284 of title 28, 

6 United States Code, except that the court shall 

7 be comprised of two judges of the circuit court 

8 of appeals in which the district court lies and 

9 one judge of the district court in which the ac10 tion is brought. 

11 ‘‘(C) EXPEDITED PROCEDURE.—It shall be 

12 the duty of the court to advance on the docket 

13 and to expedite to the greatest possible extent 

14 the disposition of the action, consistent with all 

15 other relevant deadlines established by this 

16 chapter and the laws of the United States. 

17 ‘‘(D) APPEALS.—Any appeal from the 

18 judgment of the panel convened under subpara19 graph (B) may be heard directly by the Su20 preme Court, pursuant to section 1253 of title 

21 28, United States Code, on an expedited basis, 

22 so that a final order of the court on remand of 

23 the Supreme Court may occur on or before the 

24 day before the time fixed for the meeting of 

25 electors. 


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1 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This sub2 section shall be construed solely to establish venue 

3 and expedited procedures in any action brought by 

4 an aggrieved candidate for President or Vice Presi5 dent as specified in this subsection that arises under 

6 the Constitution or laws of the United States.’’. 

7 (b) EXECUTIVE OF A STATE.—Section 21 of title 3, 

8 United States Code, as amended by section 102(b), is 

9 amended by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(3) ‘executive’ means, with respect to any 

12 State, the Governor of the State (or, in the case of 

13 the District of Columbia, the Mayor of the District 

14 of Columbia), except when the laws or constitution 

15 of a State in effect as of election day expressly re16 quire a different State executive to perform the du17 ties identified under this chapter.’’. 

18 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

19 (1) Section 9 of title 3, United States Code, is 

20 amended by striking ‘‘annex to each of the certifi21 cates one of the lists of the electors’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘annex to each of the certificates of votes one of the 

23 certificates of ascertainment of appointment of elec24 tors’’. 


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1 (2) The table of contents for chapter 1 of title 

2 3, United States Code, is amended by striking the 

3 items relating to sections 5 inserting the following: 

‘‘5. Certificate of ascertainment of appointment of electors.’’. 

4 SEC. 105. DUTIES OF THE ARCHIVIST. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6 of title 3, United States 

6 Code, is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘§ 6. Duties of Archivist 

8 ‘‘The certificates of ascertainment of appointment of 

9 electors received by the Archivist of the United States 

10 under section 5 shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) be preserved for one year; 

12 ‘‘(2) be a part of the public records of such of13 fice; and 

14 ‘‘(3) be open to public inspection.’’. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con16 tents for chapter 1 of title 3, United States Code, is 

17 amended by striking the items relating to section 6 and 

18 inserting the following: 

‘‘6. Duties of Archivist.’’. 

19 SEC. 106. MEETING OF ELECTORS. 

20 (a) TIME FOR MEETING.—Section 7 of title 3, United 

21 States Code, is amended— 

22 (1) by striking ‘‘Monday’’ and inserting ‘‘Tues23 day’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘as the legislature of such State 

2 shall direct’’ and inserting ‘‘in accordance with the 

3 laws of the State enacted prior to election day’’. 

4 (b) CLARIFICATION ON SEALING OF CERTIFICATES

5 OF VOTES.—Section 10 of such title is amended by strik6 ing ‘‘the certificates so made by them’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

7 certificates of votes so made by them, together with the 

8 annexed certificates of ascertainment of appointment of 

9 electors,’’. 

10 SEC. 107. TRANSMISSION OF CERTIFICATES OF VOTES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 11 of title 3, United 

12 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘§ 11 Transmission of certificates by electors 

14 ‘‘The electors shall immediately transmit at the same 

15 time and by the most expeditious method available the cer16 tificates of votes so made by them, together with the an17 nexed certificates of ascertainment of appointment of elec18 tors, as follows: 

19 ‘‘(1) One set shall be sent to the President of 

20 the Senate at the seat of government. 

21 ‘‘(2) Two sets shall be sent to the chief election 

22 officer of the State, one of which shall be held sub23 ject to the order of the President of the Senate, the 

24 other to be preserved by such official for one year 


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1 and shall be a part of the public records of such of2 fice and shall be open to public inspection. 

3 ‘‘(3) Two sets shall be sent to the Archivist of 

4 the United States at the seat of government, one of 

5 which shall be held subject to the order of the Presi6 dent of the Senate and the other of which shall be 

7 preserved by the Archivist of the United States for 

8 one year and shall be a part of the public records 

9 of such office and shall be open to public inspection. 

10 ‘‘(4) One set shall be sent to the judge of the 

11 district in which the electors shall have assembled.’’. 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con13 tents for chapter 1 of title 3, United States Code, is 

14 amended by striking the item relating to section 11 and 

15 inserting the following: 

‘‘11. Transmission of certificates by electors.’’. 

16 SEC. 108. FAILURE OF CERTIFICATE OF VOTES TO REACH 

17 RECIPIENTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 12 of title 3, United 

19 States Code, is amended— 

20 (1) by inserting ‘‘, after the meeting of the elec21 tors shall have been held,’’ after ‘‘When’’; 

22 (2) by striking ‘‘in December, after the meeting 

23 of the electors shall have been held,’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘in December,’’; 


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1 (3) by striking ‘‘or, if he be absent’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘or, if the President of the Senate be absent’’; 

3 (4) by striking ‘‘secretary of State’’ and insert 

4 ‘‘chief election officer of the State’’; 

5 (5) by striking ‘‘and list’’; 

6 (6) by striking ‘‘lodged with him’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘lodged with such officer’’; 

8 (7) by striking ‘‘his duty’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

9 duty of such chief election officer of the State’’; and 

10 (8) by striking ‘‘by registered mail’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘by the most expeditious method available’’. 

12 (b) CONTINUED FAILURE.—Section 13 of title 3, 

13 United States Code, is amended— 

14 (1) by inserting ‘‘, after the meeting of the elec15 tors shall have been held,’’ after ‘‘When’’; 

16 (2) by striking ‘‘in December, after the meeting 

17 of the electors shall have been held,’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘in December,’’; 

19 (3) by striking ‘‘or, if he be absent’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘or, if the President of the Senate be absent’’; 

21 and 

22 (4) by striking ‘‘that list’’ and inserting ‘‘that 

23 certificate’’. 

24 (c) ELIMINATION OF MESSENGER’S PENALTY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title 3, United States Code, 

2 is amended by striking section 14. 

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

4 contents for chapter 1 of title 3, United States Code, 

5 is amended by striking the item relating to section 

6 14. 

7 SEC. 109. CLARIFICATIONS RELATING TO COUNTING ELEC8 TORAL VOTES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 15 of title 3, United 

10 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘§ 15. Counting electoral votes in Congress 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Congress shall be in session on 

13 the sixth day of January succeeding every meeting of the 

14 electors. The Senate and House of Representatives shall 

15 meet in the Hall of the House of Representatives at the 

16 hour of 1 o’clock in the afternoon on that day, and the 

17 President of the Senate shall be their presiding officer. 

18 ‘‘(b) POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT OF SENATE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) MINISTERIAL IN NATURE.—Except as oth20 erwise provided in this chapter, the role of the Presi21 dent of the Senate while presiding over the joint 

22 meeting shall be limited to performing solely min23 isterial duties. 

24 ‘‘(2) POWERS EXPLICITLY DENIED.—The Presi25 dent of the Senate shall have no power to solely deVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jul 23, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4573.IS S4573

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1 termine, accept, reject, or otherwise adjudicate or re2 solve disputes over the proper list of electors, the va3 lidity of electors, or the votes of electors. 

4 ‘‘(c) APPOINTMENT OF TELLERS.—At the joint meet5 ing of the Senate and House of Representatives described 

6 in subsection (a), there shall be present two tellers pre7 viously appointed on the part of the Senate and two tellers 

8 previously appointed on the part of the House of Rep9 resentatives by the presiding officers of the respective 

10 chambers. 

11 ‘‘(d) PROCEDURE AT JOINT MEETING GEN12 ERALLY.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President of the Sen14 ate shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) open the certificates and papers pur16 porting to be certificates of the votes of electors 

17 appointed pursuant to a certificate of ascertain18 ment of appointment of electors issued pursu19 ant to section 5, in the alphabetical order of the 

20 States, beginning with the letter A; and 

21 ‘‘(B) upon opening any certificate, hand 

22 the certificate and any accompanying papers to 

23 the tellers, who shall read the same in the pres24 ence and hearing of the two Houses. 

25 ‘‘(2) ACTION ON CERTIFICATE.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon the reading of 

2 each certificate or paper, the President of the 

3 Senate shall call for objections, if any. 

4 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS FOR OBJECTIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(i) OBJECTIONS.—No objection shall 

6 be in order unless the objection— 

7 ‘‘(I) is made in writing; 

8 ‘‘(II) is signed by at least one9 fifth of the Senators duly chosen and 

10 sworn and one-fifth of the Members of 

11 the House of Representatives duly 

12 chosen and sworn; and 

13 ‘‘(III) states clearly and con14 cisely, without argument, one of the 

15 grounds listed under clause (ii). 

16 ‘‘(ii) GROUNDS FOR OBJECTIONS.— 

17 The only grounds for objections shall be as 

18 follows: 

19 ‘‘(I) The electors of the State 

20 were not lawfully certified under a 

21 certificate of ascertainment of ap22 pointment of electors according to sec23 tion 5(a)(1). 

24 ‘‘(II) The vote of one or more 

25 electors has not been regularly given. 


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1 ‘‘(C) CONSIDERATION OF OBJECTIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—When all objec3 tions so made to any vote or paper from a 

4 State shall have been received and read, 

5 the Senate shall thereupon withdraw, and 

6 such objections shall be submitted to the 

7 Senate for its decision; and the Speaker of 

8 the House of Representatives shall, in like 

9 manner, submit such objections to the 

10 House of Representatives for its decision. 

11 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATION.—No objection 

12 may be sustained unless such objection is 

13 sustained by separate concurring votes of 

14 each House. 

15 ‘‘(D) RECONVENING.—When the two 

16 Houses have voted, they shall immediately 

17 again meet, and the presiding officer shall then 

18 announce the decision of the questions sub19 mitted. No votes or papers from any other 

20 State shall be acted upon until the objections 

21 previously made to the votes or papers from 

22 any State shall have been finally disposed of. 

23 ‘‘(e) RULES FOR TABULATING VOTES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) COUNTING OF VOTES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

2 subparagraph (B)— 

3 ‘‘(i) only the votes of electors who 

4 have been appointed under a certificate of 

5 ascertainment of appointment of electors 

6 issued pursuant to section 5, or who have 

7 legally been appointed to fill a vacancy of 

8 any such elector pursuant to section 4, 

9 may be counted; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) no vote of an elector described in 

11 clause (i) which has been regularly given 

12 shall be rejected. 

13 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The vote of an elector 

14 who has been appointed under a certificate of 

15 ascertainment of appointment of electors issued 

16 pursuant to section 5 shall not be counted if— 

17 ‘‘(i) there is an objection which meets 

18 the requirements of subsection 

19 (d)(2)(B)(i); and 

20 ‘‘(ii) each House affirmatively sus21 tains the objection as valid. 

22 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF MAJORITY.—If the 

23 number of electors lawfully appointed by any State 

24 pursuant to a certificate of ascertainment of ap25 pointment of electors that is issued under section 5 


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1 is less than the number of electoral votes entitled to 

2 be cast by the State, or if an objection the grounds 

3 for which are described in subsection (d)(2)(B)(ii)(I) 

4 has been sustained, the total number of electors ap5 pointed for the purpose of determining a majority of 

6 the whole number of electors appointed as required 

7 by the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution shall 

8 be reduced by the number of electors whom the 

9 State has failed to appoint or as to whom the objec10 tion was sustained. 

11 ‘‘(3) LIST OF VOTES BY TELLERS; DECLARA12 TION OF WINNER.—The tellers shall make a list of 

13 the votes as they shall appear from the said certifi14 cates; and the votes having been ascertained and 

15 counted according to the rules in this subchapter 

16 provided, the result of the same shall be delivered to 

17 the President of the Senate, who shall thereupon an18 nounce the state of the vote, which announcement 

19 shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the per20 sons, if any, elected President and Vice President of 

21 the United States, and, together with a list of the 

22 votes, be entered on the Journals of the two 

23 Houses.’’. 

24 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con25 tents for chapter 1 of title 3, United States Code, is 


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1 amended by striking the item relating to section 15 and 

2 inserting the following: 

‘‘15. Counting electoral votes in Congress.’’. 

3 SEC. 110. RULES RELATING TO JOINT MEETING. 

4 (a) LIMIT OF DEBATE IN EACH HOUSE.—Section 17 

5 of title 3, United States Code, is amended to read as fol6 lows: 

7 ‘‘§ 17. Same; limit of debate in each House 

8 ‘‘When the two Houses separate to decide upon an 

9 objection pursuant to section 15(d)(2)(C)(i) that may have 

10 been made to the counting of any electoral vote or votes 

11 from any State, or other question arising in the matter— 

12 ‘‘(1) all such objections and questions permitted 

13 with respect to such State shall be considered at 

14 such time; 

15 ‘‘(2) each Senator and Representative may 

16 speak to such objections or questions five minutes, 

17 and not more than once; 

18 ‘‘(3) the total time for debate for all such objec19 tions and questions with respect to such State shall 

20 not exceed two hours in each House; and 

21 ‘‘(4) at the close of such debate, it shall be the 

22 duty of the presiding officer of each House to put 

23 the objections and questions to a vote without fur24 ther debate.’’. 


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1 (b) PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE.—Section 18 of 

2 title 3, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

3 ‘‘under section 15(d)(2)(C)(i)’’ after ‘‘motion to with4 draw’’. 

5 SEC. 111. SEVERABILITY. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 3, United States Code, is 

7 amended by inserting after section 21 the following new 

8 section: 

9 ‘‘§ 22. Severability 

10 ‘‘If any provision of this chapter, or the applica11 tion of a provision to any person or circumstance, is 

12 held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this 

13 chapter, and the application of the provisions to any 

14 person or circumstance, shall not be affected by the 

15 holding.’’. 

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con17 tents for chapter 1 of title 3, United States Code, is 

18 amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘22. Severability.’’. 

19 TITLE II—PRESIDENTIAL 

20 TRANSITION IMPROVEMENT ACT 

21 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

22 This title may be cited as ‘‘Presidential Transition 

23 Improvement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 202. MODIFICATIONS TO PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION 

2 ACT OF 1963. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Presidential 

4 Transition Act of 1963 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) is amended 

5 by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(c)(1) APPARENT SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this Act, 

8 the ‘apparent successful candidate’ for the office of 

9 President and Vice President, respectively, shall be 

10 determined as follows: 

11 ‘‘(i) If all but one eligible candidate for the 

12 office of President and one eligible candidate 

13 for the office of Vice President, respectively, 

14 concede the election, then the candidate for 

15 each such office who has not conceded shall be 

16 the apparent successful candidate for each such 

17 office. 

18 ‘‘(ii) If, on the date that is 5 days after the 

19 date of the election, more than one eligible can20 didate for the office of President has not con21 ceded the election, then each of the remaining 

22 eligible candidates for such office and the office 

23 of Vice President who have not conceded shall 

24 be treated as the apparent successful candidates 

25 until such time as a single candidate for the of26 fice of President is treated as the apparent sucVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jul 23, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4573.IS S4573

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1 cessful candidate pursuant to clause (iii) or 

2 clause (iv). 

3 ‘‘(iii) If a single candidate for the office of 

4 President or Vice President is determined by 

5 the Administrator to meet the qualifications 

6 under subparagraph (B), the Administrator 

7 may determine that such candidate shall solely 

8 be treated as the apparent successful candidate 

9 for that office until such time as a single can10 didate for the office of President is treated as 

11 the apparent successful candidate pursuant to 

12 clause (iv). 

13 ‘‘(iv) If a single candidate for the office of 

14 President or Vice President is the apparent suc15 cessful candidate for such office under subpara16 graph (C), that candidate shall solely be treated 

17 as the apparent successful candidate for that 

18 office. 

19 ‘‘(B) INTERIM DISCRETIONARY QUALIFICA20 TIONS.—On or after the date that is 5 days after 

21 the date of the election, the Administrator may de22 termine that a single candidate for the office of 

23 President or Vice President shall be treated as the 

24 sole apparent successful candidate for that office 

25 pursuant to subparagraph (A)(iii) if it is substanVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jul 23, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4573.IS S4573

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1 tially certain the candidate will receive a majority of 

2 the pledged votes of electors, based on consideration 

3 of the following factors: 

4 ‘‘(i) The results of the election for such of5 fice in States in which significant legal chal6 lenges that could alter the outcome of the elec7 tion in the State have been substantially re8 solved, such that the outcome is substantially 

9 certain. 

10 ‘‘(ii) The certified results of the election 

11 for such office in States in which the certifi12 cation is complete. 

13 ‘‘(iii) The results of the election for such 

14 office in States in which there is substantial 

15 certainty of an apparent successful candidate 

16 based on the totality of the circumstances. 

17 ‘‘(C) MANDATORY QUALIFICATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sub19 paragraph (A) or (B), a candidate shall be the 

20 sole apparent successful candidate for the office 

21 of President or Vice President pursuant to sub22 paragraph (A)(iv) for purposes of this Act if— 

23 ‘‘(I) the candidate receives a majority 

24 of pledged votes of electors of such office 

25 based on certifications by States of their 


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1 final canvass, and the conclusion of any re2 counts, legal actions, or administrative ac3 tions pertaining to the results of the elec4 tion for such office; 

5 ‘‘(II) in the case where subclause (I) 

6 is not met, the candidate receives a major7 ity of votes of electors of such office at the 

8 meeting and vote of electors under section 

9 7 of title 3, United States Code; or 

10 ‘‘(III) in the case where neither sub11 clause (I) or (II) is met, the candidate is 

12 declared as the person elected to such of13 fice at the joint session of Congress under 

14 section 15 of title 3, United States Code. 

15 ‘‘(ii) CLARIFICATION IF STATE UNABLE TO

16 CERTIFY ELECTION RESULTS OR APPOINTS

17 MORE THAN ONE SLATE OF ELECTORS.—For 

18 purposes of subclauses (I) and (II) of clause (i), 

19 if a State is unable to certify its election results 

20 or a State appoints more than one slate of elec21 tors, the votes of the electors of such State 

22 shall not count towards meeting the qualifica23 tions under such subclauses. 

24 ‘‘(2) PERIOD OF MULTIPLE POSSIBLE APPARENT

25 SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES.—During any period in which 


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1 there is more than one possible apparent successful can2 didate for the office of President— 

3 ‘‘(A) the Administrator is authorized to provide, 

4 upon request, to each remaining eligible candidate 

5 for such office and the office of Vice President de6 scribed in paragraph (1)(A)(ii) access to services 

7 and facilities pursuant to this Act; 

8 ‘‘(B) the Administrator, in conjunction with the 

9 Federal Transition Coordinator designated under 

10 section 4(c) and the senior career employee of each 

11 agency and senior career employee of each major 

12 component and subcomponent of each agency des13 ignated under subsection (f)(1) to oversee and imple14 ment the activities of the agency, component, or sub15 component relating to the Presidential transition, 

16 shall make efforts to ensure that each such can17 didate is provided equal access to agency informa18 tion and spaces as requested pursuant to this Act; 

19 ‘‘(C) the Administrator shall provide weekly re20 ports to Congress containing a brief summary of the 

21 status of funds being distributed to such candidates 

22 under this Act, the level of access to agency informa23 tion and spaces provided to such candidates, and the 

24 status of such candidates with respect to meeting 

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1 didate for the office of President or Vice President 

2 under subparagraph (B) or (C) of paragraph (1); 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(D) if a single candidate for the office of 

5 President or Vice President is treated as the appar6 ent successful candidate for such office pursuant to 

7 subparagraph (A)(iii) or (A)(iv) of paragraph (1), 

8 not later than 24 hours after such treatment is ef9 fective, the Administrator shall make available to the 

10 public a written statement that such candidate is 

11 treated as the sole apparent successful candidate for 

12 such office for purposes of this Act, including a de13 scription of the legal basis and reasons for such 

14 treatment based on the qualifications under subpara15 graph (B) or (C) of paragraph (1), as applicable. 

16 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term ‘eli17 gible candidate’ has the meaning given that term in sub18 section (h)(4).’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Presidential 

20 Transition Act of 1963 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) is amended— 

21 (1) in section 3— 

22 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘PRESI23 DENTS-ELECT AND VICE-PRESIDENTS24 ELECT’’ and inserting ‘‘APPARENT SUCCESS25 FUL CANDIDATES’’; 


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1 (B) in subsection (a)— 

2 (i) in the matter preceding paragraph 

3 (1)— 

4 (I) by striking ‘‘each President5 elect, each Vice-President-elect’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘each apparent successful 

7 candidate for the office of President 

8 and Vice President (as determined by 

9 subsection (c))’’; and 

10 (II) by striking ‘‘the President11 elect and Vice-President-elect’’ and in12 serting ‘‘each such candidate’’; 

13 (ii) in paragraph (1)— 

14 (I) by striking ‘‘the President15 elect, the Vice-President-elect’’ and in16 serting ‘‘the apparent successful can17 didate’’; and 

18 (II) by striking ‘‘the President19 elect or Vice-President-elect’’ and in20 serting ‘‘the apparent successful can21 didate’’; 

22 (iii) in paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and 

23 (5), by striking ‘‘the President-elect or 

24 Vice-President-elect’’ each place it appears 


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1 and inserting ‘‘the apparent successful 

2 candidate’’; 

3 (iv) in paragraph (4)(B), by striking 

4 ‘‘the President-elect, the Vice-President5 elect, or the designee of the President-elect 

6 or Vice-President-elect’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

7 apparent successful candidate or their des8 ignee’’; 

9 (v) in paragraph (8), in subparagraph 

10 (A)(v) and (B), by striking ‘‘the President11 elect’’ and inserting ‘‘the apparent success12 ful candidate for the office of President’’; 

13 and 

14 (vi) in paragraph (10)— 

15 (I) by striking ‘‘any President16 elect, Vice-President-elect, or eligible 

17 candidate’’ and inserting ‘‘any appar18 ent successful candidate or eligible 

19 candidate’’; and 

20 (II) by striking ‘‘the President21 elect and Vice President-elect’’ and in22 serting ‘‘the apparent successful can23 didates’’; 

24 (C) in subsection (b)— 


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1 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘the 

2 President-elect or Vice-President-elect, or 

3 after the inauguration of the President4 elect as President and the inauguration of 

5 the Vice-President-elect as Vice President’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘the apparent successful 

7 candidates, or after the inauguration of the 

8 apparent successful candidate for the office 

9 of President as President and the inau10 guration of the apparent successful can11 didate for the office of Vice President as 

12 Vice President’’; and 

13 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘the 

14 President-elect, Vice-President-elect’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘the apparent successful can16 didate’’; 

17 (D) in subsection (d)— 

18 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 

19 ‘‘Each President-elect’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘Each apparent successful candidate for 

21 the office of President’’; and 

22 (ii) in the second sentence, by striking 

23 ‘‘Each Vice-President-elect’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘Each apparent successful candidate for 

25 the office of Vice-President’’; 


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1 (E) in subsection (e)— 

2 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 

3 ‘‘Each President-elect and Vice-President4 elect’’ and inserting ‘‘Each apparent suc5 cessful candidate’’; and 

6 (ii) in the second sentence, by striking 

7 ‘‘any President-elect or Vice-President8 elect may be made upon the basis of a cer9 tificate by him or the assistant designated 

10 by him’’ and inserting ‘‘any apparent suc11 cessful candidate may be made upon the 

12 basis of a certificate by the candidate or 

13 their designee’’; 

14 (F) in subsection (f)— 

15 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘The 

16 President-elect’’ and inserting ‘‘Any appar17 ent successful candidate for the office of 

18 President’’; and 

19 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘in20 auguration of the President-elect as Presi21 dent and the inauguration of the Vice22 President-elect as Vice President’’ and in23 serting ‘‘inauguration of the apparent suc24 cessful candidate for the office of President 

25 as President and the inauguration of the 


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1 apparent successful candidate for the office 

2 of Vice President as Vice President’’; 

3 (G) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘In the 

4 case where the President-elect is the incumbent 

5 President or in the case where the Vice-Presi6 dent-elect is the incumbent Vice President’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘In the case where an apparent suc8 cessful candidate for the office of President is 

9 the incumbent President or in the case where 

10 an apparent successful candidate for the office 

11 of Vice President is the incumbent Vice Presi12 dent’’; 

13 (H) in subsection (h)— 

14 (i) in paragraph (2)(B)(iv), by strik15 ing ‘‘the President-elect or Vice-President16 elect’’ and inserting ‘‘an apparent success17 ful candidates’’; and 

18 (ii) in paragraph (3)(B)(iii), by strik19 ing ‘‘the President-elect or Vice-President20 elect’’ and inserting ‘‘an apparent success21 ful candidates’’; and 

22 (I) in subsection (i)(3)(C)— 

23 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘the inau24 guration of the President-elect as Presi25 dent and the inauguration of the ViceVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:09 Jul 23, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4573.IS S4573

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1 President-elect as Vice President’’ and in2 serting ‘‘the inauguration of the apparent 

3 successful candidate for the office of Presi4 dent as President and the inauguration of 

5 the apparent successful candidate for the 

6 office of Vice President as Vice President’’; 

7 and 

8 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘upon 

9 request of the President-elect or the Vice10 President-elect’’ and inserting ‘‘upon re11 quest of the apparent successful can12 didate’’; 

13 (2) in section 4— 

14 (A) in subsection (e)— 

15 (i) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking 

16 ‘‘the President-elect and Vice-President17 elect’’ and inserting ‘‘the apparent success18 ful candidates (as determined by section 

19 3(c))’’; and 

20 (ii) in paragraph (4)(B), by striking 

21 ‘‘the President-elect is inaugurated’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘the apparent successful can23 didate for the office of President is inaugu24 rated’’; and 

25 (B) in subsection (g)— 


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1 (i) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking 

2 ‘‘the President-elect’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

3 apparent successful candidate for the office 

4 of President’’; and 

5 (ii) in paragraph (3)(B)(ii)(III), by 

6 striking ‘‘the President-elect’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘the apparent successful candidate for 

8 the office of President’’; 

9 (3) in section 5, in the first sentence, by strik10 ing ‘‘Presidents-elect and Vice-Presidents-elect’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘apparent successful candidates (as deter12 mined by section 3(c))’’; 

13 (4) in section 6— 

14 (A) in subsection (a)— 

15 (i) in paragraph (1)— 

16 (I) by striking ‘‘The President17 elect and Vice-President-elect’’ and in18 serting ‘‘Each apparent successful 

19 candidate (as determined by section 

20 3(c))’’; and 

21 (II) by striking ‘‘the President22 elect or Vice-President-elect’’ and in23 serting ‘‘the apparent successful can24 didate’’; 


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1 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘The 

2 President-elect and Vice-President-elect’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘Each apparent successful 

4 candidate’’; and 

5 (iii) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking 

6 ‘‘inauguration of the President-elect as 

7 President and the Vice-President-elect as 

8 Vice President’’ and inserting ‘‘inaugura9 tion of the apparent successful candidate 

10 for the office of President as President and 

11 the apparent successful candidate for the 

12 office of Vice-President as Vice President’’; 

13 (B) in subsection (b)(1)— 

14 (i) in the matter preceding subpara15 graph (A), by striking ‘‘The President-elect 

16 and Vice-President-elect’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘Each apparent successful candidate’’; and 

18 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

19 ‘‘the President-elect or Vice-President20 elect’s’’ and inserting ‘‘the apparent suc21 cessful candidate’s’’; and 

22 (C) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘The 

23 President-elect and Vice-President-elect’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘Each apparent successful candidate’’; 

25 and 


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1 (5) in section 7(a)(1), by striking ‘‘the Presi2 dent-elect and Vice President-elect’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘the apparent successful candidates’’. 

Æ 


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