WASHINGTON — A coalition of election reform advocates is calling on Congress to implement reforms before the next presidential election that would restrict the ability of senators and representatives to challenge the counting of electoral votes submitted by individual states.

What You Need To Know

  • A coalition of election reform advocates are calling on Congress to reform the way Electoral Collge votes are counted 

  •  They say they want to avoid the post-election drama that unfolded after the 2020 presidential election

  • Part of the reforms would be to limit who could object to the votes and why

Meeting with reporters this week, members of the National Task Force on Election Crises argued the reforms are critical to preventing a repeat of the post-election drama that marked the 2020 presidential contest. Without new guardrails, a similar scenario is likely to unfold in the future, they predict.

"This is the equivalency of the state of Florida making no election changes after the year 2000 and expecting a different result," said former Republican Congressman Zach Wamp, a member of the task force. "We have to re-clarify who can, and what the standing has to be, in order to object to this. We, as a nation, cannot allow any individual to intimidate the elected leaders into a place of not following the Constitution."

Specifically, the coalition is proposing raising the threshold for members of Congress to object to the counting of electoral votes. Not only would more members have to join together to submit an objection, the universe of reasons for making such an objection would be more narrow in scope.

Another proposal would clarify language in the Electoral Count Act of 1887 to spell out the vice president's sole ceremonial duty of announcing the electoral vote totals from each state. The coalition is also demanding that Congress restrict itself from attempting to overturn electoral vote outcomes in individual states and that a conflict resolution procedure be developed to overcome a potential deadlock between the House and Seante on accepting the Electoral College results.

"Imagine dueling inaugurations on Inauguration Day," said task force member Adav Noti. "Imagine the chaos and violence that could ensue. That's too late at that point. So, we see the trend — the trend is bad — we know what the problems are, we know how to fix them, and this is the time to do it."