Today, Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) helped pass the Presidential Electoral Count Reform Act in the House to secure the process of casting and counting electoral votes and provisions in the presidential transition process. This legislation would reform the Electoral Count Act to ensure that Congress counts the votes as required by the Constitution.
"The January 6th insurrection made clear that we must take action to secure our elections from those who would violently disrupt our democratic process. By passing the Presidential Electoral Count Reform Act, the House has taken a crucial step forward to strengthen our democracy and ensure that the will of the voters will not be thwarted," said Congressman Pappas. "I urge the Senate to take up this legislation quickly so that we may secure our electoral process and protect the rule of law."
Specifically, the bill would:
Ensure that Congress receives a single accurate electoral certificate from each state.
Require that states select electors in accordance with the state law existing as of the date of the election.
Provide a federal judicial remedy in the event that a state governor refuses to certify the lawful result of a presidential election.
Specifying the role of the Vice President during the joint session is ministerial in nature.
Raise the objection threshold in Congress to at least one-fifth of the duly chosen and sworn members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.