CASE STUDIES

Electoral Count Act Reformed

Congress Takes Historic Action to Update the Electoral Count Act

The Electoral Count Act outlines the process of casting and counting Electoral College votes for president and vice president. language of the act was previously ambiguous and antiquated. Namely, it failed to provide specific guidance on key parts of the counting and dispute resolution process. the peaceful transfer of power. As the nation learned following the events of January 6, 2021, these ambiguities put the country’s peaceful transfer of power at risk.

In 2022, U.S. Congress successfully reformed and passed the new version of the Electoral Count Act, which specifically clarifies the process for the future. The new ECA makes a repeat of the national tragedy of Jan 6, 2021 far less likely.

Our grantee, Protect Democracy, played a critical role in this reform: they convened a bipartisan coalition of experts to provide public advocacy, drafted the updated policy blueprint, and provided legal advice to what became the bipartisan working group of US Senators that eventually pushed the legislation through.