How did the attack on the U.S. Capitol happen on January 6th? There are lots of reasons, and many congressional committees and federal agencies are investigating. But there is one contributing factor that’s easy to fix — update the Electoral Count Act (ECA), a law passed in 1887 that spells out Congress’ role in counting the Electoral College votes every four years. But, despite having clear legislative intent at the time, the ECA is ambiguous, out of date, and contributed to the electoral chaos that we saw this year. In episode 31, Weston talks with two experts on the Electoral Count Act about how this arcane legislation came to be, how it gave rise to confusion and misinterpretation about Congress’ role in the 2020 presidential election, and why Congress must update it now.
How did the attack on the U.S. Capitol happen on January 6th? There are lots of reasons, and many congressional committees and federal agencies are investigating. But there is one contributing factor that’s easy to fix — update the Electoral Count Act (ECA), a law passed in 1887 that spells out Congress’ role in counting the Electoral College votes every four years.
But, despite having clear legislative intent at the time, the ECA is ambiguous, out of date, and contributed to the electoral chaos that we saw this year.
In episode 31, Weston talks with two experts on the Electoral Count Act about how this arcane legislation came to be, how it gave rise to confusion and misinterpretation about Congress’ role in the 2020 presidential election, and why Congress must update it now.
Guests:
To learn more about Democracy Matters, another show in the Democracy Group podcast network, visit: https://www.democracygroup.org/shows/democracy-matters