Congress Proposes Reforms to the Electoral Count Act of 1887
Although Welcome News, It Still Leaves the Electoral College Intact
As of this writing, bipartisan progress has been made in advancing a bill that would reform the archaic and poorly worded Electoral Count Act (ECA) of 1887.
The ECA arose out of the chaos of the disputed election of 1876. The Act established procedures and deadlines for states to follow in the event of disputes arising from the certification of Electors following a Presidential election. However, its vaguely worded provisions left much room for misinterpretation and outright malfeasance, which is what happened following the 2020 election.
The reform would, among other things:
Ensure that state legislatures cannot overrule the people’s vote by declaring a “failed” election.
Identify the state’s Governor as the sole individual responsible for submitting a certified slate of electors to federal officials.
Clarify that the Vice President’s role in overseeing the counting of electoral votes before a joint session of Congress is purely ceremonial.
Raise the threshold for Members of Congress to object to the electoral vote counting.
The PBS Newshour has a nice summary of the ECA reform effort. Click here for a one-page summary of the reform bill, courtesy of the office of Senator Susan Collins [R, ME], who is spearheading the reform effort. Earlier this year, the Committee on House Administration, chaired by Representative Zoe Lofgren [D, CA-19th] released a detailed report containing recommendations for reforming the ECA.
Reform of the ECA is seen as very welcome progress in helping to secure Presidential elections in the U.S. ECA reform will most likely obviate the “independent state legislature theory” by establishing clear rules for federal courts to adjudicate disputes. But the ECA does nothing to address the Electoral College itself, whose pervasive anti-democratic influence (e.g., swing states, winner-take-all, popular vote losers assuming office, etc.) remains unchanged.
In a future post, we’ll look more closely at the origins of the ECA, and how an Electoral College misfire in 1876 directly ended Reconstruction in the post-Civil War South.
This “Abolish the College” newsletter is brought to you by The National Vote, an organization dedicated to ending the Electoral College by amending the U.S. Constitution. Join our movement, and please share this post with others.
References:
Ned Foley et. al. "Why Congress Should Swiftly Enact the Senate's Bipartisan ECA Reform Bill," Election Law Blog, July 20, 2022.
Editorial Board. "A Bill to Prevent Trump's Attempted Coup is Finally Ready -- And Must Pass," The Washington Post, July 20, 2022.
FUCK "REFORMING" THE "ELECTORAL COUNT ACT"! JUST PASS A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO GET RID OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE INSTEAD! DIRECT NATIONWIDE POPULAR VOTE ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 🇺🇸!