Americans for a Balanced Budget Endorses ECA Reform

North Carolina organization encourages swift passage of the Senate’s bipartisan Electoral Count Reform Act.

Raleigh, North Carolina – As Congress begins its busy lame duck session, Americans for a Balanced Budget is encouraging the United States Senate to pass S.4573, Electoral Count Reform Act (ECRA), before the end of the congressional calendar year. This bipartisan bill would reform the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which has been scrutinized in recent elections by lawmakers and election experts for its antiquated and ambiguous language, causing insurmountable uncertainty in the certification of electoral votes for the President and Vice President.

In a rare showing of bipartisanship, a group of 40 senators, including North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, signed onto a bill that would establish the Vice President’s and Congress’s role in certifying the results of a presidential election as purely ministerial. The bill would also raise the threshold to lodge an objection from a state to 20 percent and narrow the grounds for filing the objection, among other changes.

“Reforms proposed in the ECRA are commonsense and would solve frequent grievances with the presidential elections system,” says ABB President Dee Stewart. “Flaws in this certification process are withering away the American people’s trust in the election system. Without reform, I’m concerned that future elections could be subject to expensive, time-consuming arguments and relitigating that distract Congress and the American people from the tasks at hand – namely to reign in our out-of-control spending and govern as good stewards of taxpayer dollars.”

Introduced in July, the ECRA has undergone rigorous review among senators, election experts, and relevant senate committees and mustered up resounding support among all, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). The bill, however, still sits before the Senate and faces impending time constraints despite lawmakers’ ambitious agenda as they return to Washington for the final weeks of the legislative year.

“We’ve seen time and time again how the lame-duck period kills meaningful legislation in Congress, but lawmakers cannot let this opportunity to reform the Electoral Count Act pass. I encourage Senator Tillis and his colleagues to find the most appropriate, must-pass vehicle to attach the bill and get it passed in December. Passing legislation that would strengthen our democracy would deliver a major win for conservatives as we approach the next presidential election.”

About ABB:

Americans for a Balanced Budget is incorporated in Raleigh, North Carolina.

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