U.S. House Passes Bill to Reform the Electoral Count Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Wednesday, Sept. 21, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 8873, the Presidential Election Reform Act (PERA), a bill that would make key changes to the antiquated Electoral Count Act (ECA) of 1887, which governs how Congress counts Electoral College votes. The bill, introduced earlier this week by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), is designed to prevent a repeat of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol during the counting of Electoral College votes. The bill passed 229-203, with all Democrats and nine Republicans voting in favor.
In July, a bipartisan group of senators released their own proposal to reform the ECA — S. 4573, the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act — and the Senate Rules Committee will mark up the proposal on Sept. 27. Both chambers of Congress will need to agree on a single bill for it to reach President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.