Electoral Count Act Part of Budget Deal

[Zincwarrior]

Congress has corrected any "ambiguities" related to the VPs role in counting the electoral votes in the future; modified objections to requiring 20% of House and Senate; and clarified that only the governor or duly authorized representative of a state may submit election results. This is an excellent move to clarify that issue properly in the future so that will of the people via the electors is not subverted.

Electoral Count Act set to deliver another blow to Trump

The House isn’t the only congressional chamber taking steps this week to counteract former President Trump, as legislation to overhaul how Congress counts electoral votes is one step closer to beco…

thehill.com

Electoral Count Act set to deliver another blow to Trump​

BY AL WEAVER - 12/21/22 6:00 AM ET
SHARETWEET



The House isn’t the only congressional chamber taking steps this week to counteract former President Trump, as legislation to overhaul how Congress counts electoral votes is one step closer to becoming law.
Less than a day after a House panel investigating Jan. 6, 2021, issued four criminal referrals for the former president, the Senate unveiled a $1.7 trillion omnibus government funding package that includes the Electoral Count Reform Act (ECRA), marking a second blow in as many days against Trump.

The Electoral Count Reform Act, an update to the Electoral Count Act of 1887, raises the threshold for objections to Electoral College votes from one member in each chamber to one-fifth of members in both chambers. Unlike the House panel’s criminal referral that may or may not go anywhere — the Department of Justice is not obligated to consider congressional referrals — the Senate-negotiated bill marks concrete action against Trump that is set to be signed into law by the end of the week.

“It will arguably save our democracy,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who helped negotiate the proposal, told The Hill. “What we wrote is not foolproof. Malevolent actors could still steal an election, but it makes it a lot harder.”
The effort comes two years after Trump and his allies attempted to use the 135-year-old statute to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

In addition to increasing the threshold, the bill clarifies that the role of the vice president in tallying and certifying the Electoral College votes is purely ceremonial and that only a state’s governor or another designated official may submit election results.

And the proposal allows the General Services Administration to release transition funds to both candidates if neither has issued a concession five days after the election. It would, however, nix funds to the losing candidate once the result of the election was determined.

 

[rightwinger]

Now how are Republicans going to steal elections?

 

[Anathema]

Now how are Republicans going to steal elections?

We are giving up on ballots and moving to bullets.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

We are giving up on ballots and moving to bullets.

How many people have you shot today?

 

[candycorn]

Congress has corrected any "ambiguities" related to the VPs role in counting the electoral votes in the future; modified objections to requiring 20% of House and Senate; and clarified that only the governor or duly authorized representative of a state may submit election results. This is an excellent move to clarify that issue properly in the future so that will of the people via the electors is not subverted.

Electoral Count Act set to deliver another blow to Trump

The House isn’t the only congressional chamber taking steps this week to counteract former President Trump, as legislation to overhaul how Congress counts electoral votes is one step closer to beco…

thehill.com

Doesn't go nearly far enough.

There is zero reason why we should have to vote in November, have the electoral votes counted in December, and then have them certified in January. Good lord folks...thousand dollar transactions happen in nano-seconds involving credit cards, bank accounts, stock purchases, stock sales.... It takes 90 days to confirm who won? Nope!



First:
You have to get rid of 538. You need to make it 535--100 Senators, 435 reps. Having 3 for DC is dumb. 535 electors. Ties become way less possible since the only other way it would happen would be if the Nebraska and Maine idiosyncrasies rear their ugly heads. Possible but not as glaringly possible as having an even number of electors. Politically this is a non-starter of course. Fold the population of DC into Virginia or Maryland.

Next:
You vote on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. You spend the next 20 days hashing out any disputes, finalizing counts, etc.... By December 1, we have a President-Elect. Defense, Treasury, Justice, and State all are now legally bound to "open their books" to the incoming administration's representatives. If they have named a nominee, the nominee essentially gets an office next door to the current Department Secretaries. They have access to the ongoing operations, get the footing of what is taking place, the lay of the land, etc... So on day one, they are ready to go.

Finally:
On December 16 or about that time...the electors elect the President. On December 20, the new POTUS is certified. One month later, she or he is sworn in.