Count On Congress 2 Botch ‘24 Election?

Is there any excuse left for Congress’s delay in fixing vague electoral certification law’s invitation to political trouble ala Jan. 6? Does Liz Cheney’s bill rather than her usual vindictiveness provide relief voters can rely on?

The WSJ’s editors note “the good news” is that both the House & Senate are considering updating the 1887 Electoral Count Act, “the antiquated law implicated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot … Even better, the bill unveiled this week by [Never Trump] Republican Liz Cheney & Democrat Zoe Lofgren reads like it’s an improvement” still because it would raise the threshold for objections & thereby prevent one or two politicians to muddy the waters. And, on Monday, it passed the House by a 229-203 margin and will now face off with a likely Senate counter bill. The bad news? ALL these versions, to one extent or another, arguably “continue to permit Congress to object vaguely” that an elector’s vote wasn’t “regularly” aka legitimately given. (The House bill would enumerate specific grounds for legit objections, but is there anyone who thinks our impeachment crazy Congressmen & women could not twist them into logical pretzels as well?)

Of course, as the editors argue, “the best approach remains for lawmakers to get out of this objection business & leave such disputes to the courts. Perhaps it’s unrealistic to expect lawmakers to give up the power they arrogated in 1887, but the madness of Jan. 6, 2021, should have made a convincing case. It’s [still] asking for trouble to enshrine any political process for overturning the will of the voters two weeks before the transfer of power is scheduled to take place.”

Davd Soul