Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022

Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act
Long title	To amend title 3, United States Code, to reform the Electoral Count Act, and to amend the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 to provide clear guidelines for when and to whom resources are provided by the Administrator of General Services for use in connection with the preparations for the assumption of official duties as President or Vice President.
Enacted by	the 117th United States Congress
Effective	December 29, 2022
Citations
Public law	Pub. L. 117–328 (text) (PDF), Division P
Statutes at Large	136 Stat. 5233
Codification
U.S.C. sections amended	3 U.S.C. ch. 1, 3 U.S.C. § 102 note
Legislative history
	Introduced in the Senate as S.4573 by Susan Collins (R–ME) on July 20, 2022; Committee consideration by United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration; Senate agreed to amendment on December 22, 2022 (68–29 as Division P of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023) with further amendment; House agreed to Senate amendment on December 23, 2022 (225–201–1 as Division P of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023); Signed into law by President Joe Biden as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 on December 29, 2022;

The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022 is a revision of the Electoral Count Act of 1887, adding to procedures set out in the Constitution of the United States for the counting of electoral votes following a presidential election. It also amended the Presidential Transition Act.

The Act was passed on 23 December 2022 by the 117th Congress, and signed into law by President Joe Biden as Division P of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023.^[1]

Background

The act is intended to prevent a repeat of the January 6 United States Capitol attack following Donald Trump's refusal to concede the 2020 election. It mainly focuses on preventing the direct cause of this attack, Trump's fake elector slates fueled by misinformation about the Vice President's ability to reject state elector slates.^[2] This led to a delay in the transition to the Biden administration, as well as a movement to have Vice President Mike Pence block the formal certification of the election results. The act addressed issues such as these by allowing some transition to begin even when an election result is unclear, and clarified the vice president's role in the certification of electoral votes.^[3]

Legislative history

The bill was sponsored by Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia in July 2022. After five months of negotiations, it became Division P of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, which passed 68–29 in the Senate on December 22, 2022, and 225–201 in the House the following day.^[1]^[4] On December 29, 2022, it was signed into law by President Joe Biden.^[5]

Provisions

The law includes multiple revisions to the voting, certification, counting, and transition process.^[6]

State procedures

The law identifies the governor (or, in the case of Washington, D.C., the district's mayor) as responsible for submitting certificates of ascertainment, unless otherwise specified by state laws or constitutions. In addition, a certificate that was revised as ordered by a state or federal court judgment before the meeting of electors supersedes all previous certificates.

Under the law, states that select electors by popular vote can modify the period of voting only in the case of "extraordinary and catastrophic" events. The modification may occur only according to laws that were passed before the voting period.

The date on which the electors convene to vote also changes under the law, to the "first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December". It was previously one day earlier. ^[7]

Review of claims brought by candidates

An action brought by an aggrieved candidate for president or vice president is guaranteed an expedited review.

According to the law, the venue for such an action shall be the United States district court of the federal judicial district where the state capital is located. The action shall be heard by a three-judge judicial panel consisting of two circuit court of appeals judges and one district court judge. The court shall expedite the disposition of the action, in accordance with deadlines established by the law. Any appeal from the court's judgment may be heard directly by the Supreme Court on an expedited basis, and the court's final order on remand must occur at the latest on the day before the electors' meeting.

Congressional proceedings

The law clarifies that the vice president's role in the counting of the electoral votes is "solely ministerial," with no power to "determine, accept, reject, or otherwise adjudicate or resolve disputes over the proper list of electors, the validity of electors, or the votes of electors."

Any objection made by senators or representatives during the counting of the electoral votes must be made in writing and signed by at least one-fifth of the senators and one-fifth of the members of the House of Representatives. Previously, an objection required the signatures of only one member of each chamber.

The law also limits the grounds for an objection to one of the following:

The electors of a state were not lawfully certified
An elector's vote was not "regularly given"^[8]

Transition funds

The law allows multiple "apparent successful candidates" to receive federal presidential transition funds if more than one candidate has not conceded five days after the election. It provides guidelines for the administrator of the General Services Administration to determine when and to whom funds should be released.^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b Wang, Amy; Goodwin, Liz (December 23, 2022). "House joins Senate in passing Electoral Count Act overhaul in response to Jan. 6 attack". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
^ Parks, Miles (December 23, 2022). "Congress passes election reform designed to ward off another Jan. 6". NPR. Archived from the original on October 4, 2024. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
^ "What's in the U.S. Congress's Electoral Count Reform Act?". Reuters. December 20, 2022. Archived from the original on October 26, 2023. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
^ Cochrane, Emily (December 23, 2022). "House Clears $1.7 Trillion Spending Package, Averting Shutdown". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 22, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
^ Carvajal, Nikki (December 29, 2022). "Biden signs $1.7 trillion government spending bill into law". CNN. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Text of H.R. 8824 (117th): Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022 (Introduced version)". GovTrack.us. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
^ 3 U.S.C. § 7 See the Notes tab, which documents the change in the electors meeting date.
^ Parks, Miles (December 23, 2022). "Senators reach deal to clarify 1887 law at center of Jan. 6 attempt to overturn election". NPR. Archived from the original on February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.

External links

Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement (PDF) (Division P Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023). United States Congress. December 22, 2022. p. 1934–1968.
"S.4573 – Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022". Congress.gov. October 18, 2022.
136 Stat. 5233, Pub. L. 117–328 (text) (PDF)

[WP20221223-1] Wang, Amy; Goodwin, Liz (December 23, 2022). "House joins Senate in passing Electoral Count Act overhaul in response to Jan. 6 attack". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 21, 2024.

[2] Parks, Miles (December 23, 2022). "Congress passes election reform designed to ward off another Jan. 6". NPR. Archived from the original on October 4, 2024. Retrieved October 14, 2024.

[3] "What's in the U.S. Congress's Electoral Count Reform Act?". Reuters. December 20, 2022. Archived from the original on October 26, 2023. Retrieved October 14, 2024.

[NYT20221223-4] Cochrane, Emily (December 23, 2022). "House Clears $1.7 Trillion Spending Package, Averting Shutdown". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 22, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2024.

[5] Carvajal, Nikki (December 29, 2022). "Biden signs $1.7 trillion government spending bill into law". CNN. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.

[HR8824-6] "Text of H.R. 8824 (117th): Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022 (Introduced version)". GovTrack.us. Retrieved August 21, 2024.

[7] 3 U.S.C. § 7 See the Notes tab, which documents the change in the electors meeting date.

[8] Parks, Miles (December 23, 2022). "Senators reach deal to clarify 1887 law at center of Jan. 6 attempt to overturn election". NPR. Archived from the original on February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.

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