Ilya Somin in the Volokh Conspiracy. Linking to the joint post that appeared earlier on ELB, as well as other commentaries, Ilya writes that the “bipartisan proposal would be a big step forward on” securing “the three main goals ECA reform should achieve:”
- Preventing state governments from, in effect, changing the rules after election day, in order to reverse election results they don’t like.
- Preventing Congress from throwing out electoral votes for bogus reasons (as some GOP members of Congress sought to do after the 2020 election).
- Making it more clear that the Vice-President does not have the power to invalidate electoral votes (a step then-VP Mike Pence rightly refused to take in January 2021, despite the urging of Donald Trump).
Building on analysis by Andy Craig, Ilya notes the possibility of improving the bill as it moves through the legislative process in Congress. To be sure, but I’m reminded of the cliche about not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, and as Ilya exclaims (from his libertarian perspective):
“This is the rare bill that is not only ‘good enough for government work,’ but actually good! It won’t, by any means, fix all the problems that ail American democracy. But it can fix some key vulnerabilities revealed by aftermath of the 2020 election.“