Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, says the Electoral Count Act needs to be overhauled because the orderly transfer of power is “essential.”

Collins, who is leading a bipartisan group of senators committed to reforming the act,  made her remarks in a column posted by The New York Times on Friday.

“This 1887 law, vaguely written in the inaccessible language of a different era, was intended to restrain Congress, but in practice it has had the unintended effect of creating ambiguities that could potentially be used to expand the role of Congress and the vice president in ways that are contrary to the Constitution.”

But, despite the law’s flaws, it has not been an issue for more than a hundred years, she noted. That changed after President Joe Biden was elected in 2020.

“President Donald Trump and his allies both exploited the weaknesses of the law and ignored the language of the Constitution,” she said. “Mr. Trump argued that the vice president could overturn the election results. A violent mob temporarily halted the electoral count that would confirm President Biden’s victory.