Call to Action
Call Senators of BOTH parties and urge immediate action on legislation to reform the Electoral Count Act of 1887
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We now know that when Donald Trump instigated the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, he had a specific plan for overturning the legitimate 2020 election. Trump and his allies wanted Vice President Pence to throw out the certified results of the election in states where Trump lost and substitute electors chosen by Trump’s allies. This strategy to overturn the actual election results was possible because the Electoral College vote count is controlled by an antiquated, confusing and contradictory law - the Electoral Count Act of 1887. It is time to reform that law, now!
The Constitution requires Congress to meet in January to count the slates of electors submitted by each state. The Vice President presides over this official count and both the House and the Senate must vote whether to accept or reject each slate. Incredibly there is no set procedure for what should happen if a slate of electors is rejected.
Trump maintains to this day that Vice President Pence had the authority to reject the legitimate slates of electors from the states Trump was contesting. If Pence had done so, there were several possible legal maneuvers that would result in Trump being declared as the re-elected President. The insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 was part of Trump’s plan to pressure Pence and Congress into invalidating a free and fair election. Joe Biden is President today only because Vice President Pence determined he did not have the authority to throw out the certified electors and refused to do Trump’s bidding. Once the invasion of the Capitol was quelled, Congress re-convened, counted the legitimate electoral votes and certified Joe Biden as President.
While Congress finally fulfilled their Constitutional duty that day, the Electoral Count Act remains in force. It is a confusing, contradictory and unworkable law which invites abuse and insurrection. Currently, it just takes only one member from the House and one from the Senate to challenge a slate of electors. A simple majority vote in both the House and Senate can reject those electors and nullify the votes of millions. This is a formula for a hyper-partisan fueled disaster. As we saw on January 6, 2021 there are many Republicans ready and willing to take this path to power. This law must be reformed.
Senators on both sides of the aisle have proposed legislation to reform what some experts call “the unintelligible” Electoral Count Act of 1887. While there is no single bill yet, key reforms include:
Clarifying that the Vice President presides as the ceremonial head of Congress and does NOT have the power to throw out legitimately certified electors submitted by the states or accept alternate slates of electors.
Increasing the number of lawmakers required to challenge and reject a certified slate of electors. We support proposals for reform that would increase the number of objectors to one-third of both chambers and increase the threshold for upholding the objection from a simple majority in either chamber to three-fifths of both chambers.
The United States avoided Trump’s intended coup this time. We must reform the Electoral Count Act of 1887 so that it cannot become a pretext for another attempt in 2024 or beyond.