Since our country’s first election, the peaceful transfer of power between the newly elected president and the outgoing president has defined this country. It has been a beacon of hope and a guiding light to the rest of the world that everyday people can choose leaders who represent their priorities and values.
This historic understanding, direction, and precedent for democractic elections came to a terrorizing end on January 6, 2021. For the first time since 1776, this country’s own citizens violently attacked their own Capitol building, seeking to stop that peaceful transfer of power. Those images and rhetoric, both on January 6 and in the leadup to it, will remain seared into the minds of millions of Americans across this country and will be taught to future generations of Americans as well.
January 6 was originally scheduled to be the official certification of the 2020 Presidential election and the counting of the electoral votes, marking the start of the peaceful transfer of power to the next president. Following the example set by previous Presidential elections, Congress was to employ the Electoral Count Act of 1887 (ECA), which outlines how the electoral college certifies the next President of the United States after each presidential election. However, often overlooked, the ECA is actually riddled with loopholes and vagueness, creating the perfect opportunity for bad actors to exploit this process. As Donald Trump, his advisors, and some members of Congress grew increasingly desperate to hold on to power, it is exactly these loopholes they tried to exploit to stop the peaceful transfer of power and overturn the 2020 election.
To find out how we got to that day, however, we first must look at the leadup to January 6 and how Donald Trump and his allies perpetuated the Big Lie. After the 2020 election, outright lies emerged and were reinforced in right wing circles that the election was somehow rigged and stolen from Donald Trump. Massive conspiracy theories took hold on the minds of many Republicans and while they have been consistently debunked and rejected in court (over 60 times), Donald Trump, his advisors, and some members of Congress still repeated these lies in the leadup to January 6 in an attempt to sow enough chaos and distrust to undemocratically overturn the results of the election. Since then, some Republican candidates and elected officials have continued to question the legitimacy of our elections and have even proactively claimed they will not accept the results of the 2022 midterms should they lose.
While the connection between reforming the ECA and our environmental priorities may seem abstract, we see the direct connection between ensuring all voters' votes are counted and ensuring partisan officials can’t willfully ignore or throw out votes like they tried to do in 2021. So much of the Sierra Club’s priorities, from tackling the climate crisis to addressing environmental injustices, depend on accurate and equal representation of the people in all levels of our government. Without critical reforms to our democracy and voting rights, communities on the front lines of the climate crisis and pollution will continue to be ignored and subjected to rampant voter suppression and disenfranchisement campaigns.
This is why it is imperative that Congress comes together and passes reforms to close these loopholes in the ECA. Protecting the pillars of our democracy, ensuring every person has their votes counted, and protecting the peaceful transfer of power are core to who we are as a country and what the founders of this country intended. With the future and destiny of the Country at stake, these reforms are too important to not do anything at this defining moment.
Two proposals exist in both chambers of Congress right now – The Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022 (Senate Bill) or the Presidential Election Reform Act (House Bill). Some changes offered in the above proposals include
- Clearly defining the role of the Vice President as ceremonial in the certification process and without the ability to reject a state's slate of electors;
- Increasing the threshold for the number of Congresspersons needed to object to a state's slate of electors, thus making it more difficult for just a few members of Congress to object to states' voting rules;
- Protecting the popular vote by striking an archaic law from 1845 which gives state legislatures the power to override the popular vote in their states by declaring a "failed election," which is undefined. If a failed election were to be declared, it could give a chance for states to hold new elections or send in a different slate of electors; and
- Prohibiting election officials from willfully refusing to count ballots or certify presidential elections in accordance with state election laws.
These common-sense reforms will strengthen our democracy, close the loopholes in the ECA, and ensure the peaceful transfer of power between presidents continue. We call on Congress to work together to pass the strongest and most robust reform package to the ECA possible and to do so before upcoming elections.
Additionally, while reforming the Electoral Count Act of 1887 is imperative, we must also be clear and understand that reforms to the ECA will do nothing to address the massive wave of voter suppression bills and anti-democracy bills we have seen filed and passed in states across the country. With no end in sight, we also call on Congress to use the power the founders granted them in the second part of Article 1, Section 4, Clause 1 and come together to fully restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act and pass the John R. Lewis: Freedom to Vote Act.
Our democracy is under unprecedented threat and we need Congress and the Biden Administration to do everything they can right now to protect it for us and for generations to come.
TAKE ACTION: There are many actions our government can take to help restore voting rights, curb money's influence on politics, and strengthen democracy as a whole. Send messages to President Biden and Congress to do all they can to defend our democracy! → sc.org/DemReform