Today’s Links
Articles:
NPR – The House just passed a bill that would make it harder to overthrow an election
PolitiFact: Electoral reform: What would updating the Electoral Count Act do?
PBS Newshour – House passes electoral law overhaul in response to Jan. 6
Text of the Presidential Election Reform Act: H.R.8873 – Presidential Election Reform Act
Groups Taking Action:
Protect Democracy, Brennan Center, Business for America, ACLU
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
Earlier this week, we told you about the differences between the U.S. Senate’s Electoral Count Reform Act, and a similar bill in the U.S. House. September 19th, Representatives Liz Cheney and Zoe Lofgren introduced another version, which has some significant differences.
PolitiFact reports that like the Senate and earlier House bill, Cheney and Lofgren’s “Presidential Election Reform Act” defines the role of the Vice President in the process, stops the possibility of an alternative slate of electors, and mandates that electors are definitively chosen before election day. Both bills further define the certification process, raise the bar for a Senator to object to certification, and limits the certification to the state’s chief elections officer, which in most states is the governor or secretary of state.
The Cheney-Lofgren bill however, proposes a new way of counting the electoral votes, where the Senate bill tweaks the existing system. The Presidential Election Reform Act also creates financial penalties to discourage the baseless, frivolous lawsuits seen after the 2020 election. It also proposes a longer timeline than the Senate’s proposal, allowing for proper challenges to be settled before final certification.
Action on the bills in the House and Senate are expected soon. The Senate bill has its 10 Republican supporters to overcome the filibuster, but it’s unclear how much support the two House bills will have when they get to the Senate. Links to articles, the language of the Presidential Election Reform Act, and groups taking action are at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.
Granny D said, “Democracy is not something we HAVE, it’s something we DO!” For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl