As mentioned last week, the House passed the Presidential Election Reform Act. However, with headlines continuing and the Senate advancing their similar legislation there are a few things we want to point out.
First, we want to acknowledge that yes the Electoral Count Act is ambiguous and clarification should be made. Yet, we see this legislation being based solely on a straw man with their consistent mention of “to prevent a stolen election”. When the real debate at hand that we saw present on January 6th and in this bill is the role of the Vice President in certifying electors.
One opinion stated that the Vice President’s role is strictly ceremonial to check off the electors and certify. While the other opinion, stated that the Vice President had the unilateral power to deny the electors and choose the President himself. We see both these opinions to be inaccurate interpretations. We are of the opinion that the times listed for the certification of the election are arbitrary and archaic. Therefore, when there are dual sets of electors and questions that need to be answered, we should take the time we need to investigate and reconvene at a later date.
Unfortunately this legislation proposes the removal of the ability for that level of discretion. Rather, it falls in line with the opinion that the sole role of the Vice President is ceremonial, while also increasing the level of contention that must be present in order to bring a challenge or question to the certification process.
We hope to see a bit more of a balanced clarification of the act rather than a re-interpretation through the Senate’s piece of legislation.
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