Following Donald Trump’s assault on US elections and attempts to subvert the peaceful transfer of power in the chaotic aftermath of his 2020 loss, a bipartisan group of senators has unveiled plans for legislation to block future candidates from trying to steal a presidential election.

The proposals from Republican Senator Susan Collins and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin – joined by more than a dozen other senators from both parties, after months of planning – would update an archaic 19th century law that Mr Trump and his allies sought to exploit by pressuring Mike Pence to block the certification of votes during a joint session of Congress to affirm Joe Biden’s election on 6 January, 2021.

The Electoral Count Reform Act would clarify the vice president’s role presiding over the Electoral College vote count and raise the threshold for members of Congress to object.

The measure would overhaul the Electoral Count Act of 1887 by asserting that the vice president’s role during the Electoral College certification is “solely ministerial” and does not have authority to reject electors.