Washington, D.C. — The new Senate proposal to reform the Electoral Count Act is a solid proposal that would help prevent efforts to undermine presidential elections, according to a new column from the Center for American Progress that urges lawmakers to pass the measure.
While some have pointed out various ways the bill could be improved as written, it would go a long way toward preventing one of the worst disasters that could befall American democracy: a presidential election in which the losing candidate takes office by subverting the will of voters. Given the bipartisan support for this measure, the column says that members of Congress should “err on the side of accepting this proposal, and resist the temptation to make the perfect the enemy of the good.”
The current version of the bill would make it vastly more difficult for state legislatures, governors, and Congress to manipulate, sabotage, or otherwise interfere with the results of a presidential election.
“To be sure, the bill likely needs some technical changes—and its original negotiators may even be open to some substantive amendments—but lawmakers should be wary of upsetting the tenuous compromise needed to get this far,” said Alex Tausanovitch, director of campaign finance and electoral reform at CAP and author of the column. “The first priority for members of Congress should be to pass this bill ahead of the November elections. Reforming the Electoral Count Act is a win for American democracy that members of Congress should be eager to deliver.”
Read the column: “The Collins-Manchin Bill Is a Good Deal for Democracy” by Alex Tausanovitch
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