The counting of electoral votes after a presidential election was an uneventful ritual for generations: Congress would convene a joint session, tally the votes, and declare a winner. There weren’t meant to be any surprises; in spite of everything, the voters had already spoken.
Yet this course of has grow to be more and more controversial over the previous 20 years, by no means extra so than on Jan. 6, 2021, when sure members of Congress objected to the votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania. Misleading interpretations of the regulation that governs the vote tally—the Electoral Count Act of 1887—swirled, main some to demand that Vice President
Mike Pence,
whose position was merely to preside over the proceedings, reverse the outcomes. Thankfully, Mr. Pence upheld the rule of regulation and carried out his ministerial accountability.
Nowhere does the Constitution give Congress or the vp the authority to toss out election outcomes. But final yr’s occasions made clear that on this hyperpolarized time, the Electoral Count Act is convoluted and ambiguous sufficient to be weak to abuse. A bipartisan group of senators is working to replace the regulation, which was cobbled collectively within the wake of the disputed 1876 election to stop—or settle—such disputes. This bipartisan momentum is promising.
One facet of the act that’s ripe for exploitation is the availability permitting a state legislature to determine how to decide on electors if the state has one way or the other “failed to make a choice” on Election Day. Some have incorrectly instructed this obscure language means state lawmakers may use any variety of trumped-up excuses to override the desire of the voters and unilaterally appoint electors of their selecting. To handle this, Congress ought to narrowly outline the restricted circumstances—like pure disasters or terrorist assaults—underneath which a state could appoint electors after Election Day.
The regulation’s outdated, nineteenth century legalese should even be up to date to make clear the position of the vp, and lift the brink for objections to counting electoral votes in the course of the joint session of Congress.
An up to date Electoral Count Act should additionally streamline the method for resolving election disputes nicely earlier than the joint session of Congress and make clear what occurs within the extraordinary scenario through which the House and Senate disagree on whether or not to depend sure votes.
As former Senate majority leaders, we all know firsthand how laborious it’s to succeed in bipartisan settlement on vital issues. But regardless of competing coverage agendas, Democrats and Republicans largely agree that the Electoral Count Act got here dangerously near failing and plunging the nation into disaster final January. This yr is the time to repair it, earlier than the 2024 marketing campaign begins.
Congress can bolster our constitutional safeguards and shield the integrity of free and truthful elections. Lawmakers ought to act now to safe the depend for good.
Mr. Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, served as Senate majority chief, 2001-03. Mr. Lott, a Mississippi Republican, served as Senate majority chief, 1996-2001. They are members of the ReFormers Caucus, a bipartisan undertaking of Issue One.
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