BREAKING: U.S. House Votes to Update Electoral Count Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 8873 to update the Electoral Count Act (ECA), the outdated law that provides the primary framework governing how presidential electoral votes are cast and counted. Bad actors exploited ambiguities in the ECA in 2020 in an attempt to overturn the election results. 

Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Liz Cheney (R-WY)  introduced the Presidential Election Reform Act (PERA) this week. Rep. Lofgren chairs the House Administration Committee and both Reps. Cheney and Lofgren sit on the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack. 

In July, a bipartisan group of 16 Senators introduced the Electoral Count Reform Act (ECRA) (S. 4573), which is currently under consideration in the Senate and would update the ECA to prevent partisan politicians from manipulating presidential elections. 

Trevor Potter, founder and president of Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and Republican Former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission, issued the following statement:

“Today’s vote in the House of Representatives demonstrates the bipartisan, bicameral recognition of the urgent need to improve the Electoral Count Act. This law has not been updated since its enactment more than 130 years ago and is rife with gaps and ambiguities that open the door for bad actors seeking to manipulate our presidential elections. We thank Reps. Lofgren and Cheney for developing this proposal, and we commend the House for taking swift action on this critical issue. With a serious bipartisan effort rapidly advancing in the Senate, we call on lawmakers in both chambers to pass the strongest possible legislation that can become law before the end of this year. The next presidential election could be one of the most contentious ever, which is why the time to update the Electoral Count Act is now. Our democracy depends on it.”