(Originally published by Election Law Blog on August 1, 2022) 

The Electoral Count Reform Act (ECRA) is a vast improvement over the existing Electoral Count Act of 1887, whose ambiguities and gaps became evident during the elections of 2000 and 2020.  The ECRA makes a number of sensible and important changes to the law governing selecting the president.  It repeals the “failed election” provision of 3 U.S.C. § 2—which some partisans have asserted empowers state legislatures to reject the popular vote and appoint a slate of electors themselves whenever they think the election was flawed in some undefined way.  It creates an expedited process for judicial resolution of claims arising under federal law that also eliminates forum shopping.

(Continue reading the opinion essay on Election Law Blog’s page here.)