This opinion piece originally appeared on The Fulcrum.
A massive 11th hour spending bill stuffed with thinly vetted backroom deals might seem proof of our political dysfunction. But the omnibus bill approved by Congress last week has democracy fans cheering – because it includes changes to presidential vote counting that could literally save our democracy. Thankfully, the old Electoral Count Act, a misguided law governing presidential electoral votes, has been fixed, blocking the dangerous scenarios that emerged in 2020 of a loophole-enabled coup d’etat.
But there are even bigger reasons to cheer ECA reform. Understood broadly, this reform demonstrates how to fix dysfunction not just for presidential elections but throughout our election system.
