Congress attached legislation to update how votes are counted and cast by the Electoral College to the omnibus appropriations bill that passed in the final days of the 117th Congress...

Before the passage of the Electoral Count Reform Act, or ECRA, this process was governed by a law passed in 1887 called the Electoral Count Act (ECA). The ECA set up a formal counting procedure for electoral votes following the 1876 presidential election, which saw states submit multiple slates of electors and where a deadlock in electoral votes left Congress unable to resolve the election for several weeks. The 1880 and 1884 elections that followed were also close and forced Congress to put legislation that would put procedures in place to resolve future election disputes.

Full article: Reforming the Electoral Count Act

LWVUS Blog / Last Updated: November 27, 2023
By: Jessica Jones Capparell