Editorial Board
Next Up for Congress? Fixing the Electoral Count Act
Modernizing the law would address some of the more obvious problems exposed by the Jan. 6 debacle.
Once was enough.
Photographer: Victor J. Blue/BloombergAs former president Donald Trump desperately clung to power last year, and his agitated supporters violently invaded the Capitol, a number of flaws in the US election system became all too clear. Thankfully, one of them may soon be fixed.
After months of negotiations, a bipartisan group of senators has released a set of reforms to the Electoral Count Act of 1887. In conjunction with the 12th Amendment, the act establishes a framework for casting and counting electoral votes in a presidential election and provides a process for adjudicating disputes.