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Updating the Electoral Count Act of 1887
For a downloadable two-page info sheet on the Electoral Count Act, click here or scroll to the bottom of this post. The Electoral Count Act (ECA) of 1887 sets out the process of casting and counting electoral votes after a presidential election. It is intended to encourage states to resolve controversial electoral outcomes prior to sending results to Congress in order to avoid the conflicts of interest and pursuit of partisan power that would likely occur if Congress were charged with resolving every election dispute. Unfortunately, the text of the ECA is confusing and antiquated, which means the counting of electoral votes remains vulnerable to abuse by partisan actors. The…
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Call to Action: Respond to the House Vote to Hold Stephen Bannon in Contempt of Congress
The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday, October 21, to hold Stephen Bannon, a podcast host who served briefly as chief strategist to former President Donald Trump, in contempt of Congress. Bannon refused to comply with subpoenas from the January 6 select committee for documents and testimony in regards to the January 6 attack on our government and the Capitol building. The House voted 229 to 202, with nine Republicans joining Democrats to recommend charges against Bannon. Attorney General Merrick Garland will make the final decision on whether to prosecute and has yet to indicate how the department will respond. To do Contact your members of the House to let…
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Official Statement from Mormon Women for Ethical Government on the Vote to Acquit the Former President
Today, 43 U.S. senators chose to acquit the former president from any responsibility for the assault on the U.S. Capitol and on members of Congress. This violence on January 6, 2021, marked the culmination of a months-long attack on our system of elections by former President Donald J. Trump. His behavior was highly undemocratic and unethical. Unfortunately, he was joined by others who, through falsehoods, also attacked the integrity of our elections. Today, many who voted to acquit the former president did so in order to acquit themselves. For many months and years they had aligned themselves with his anti-democratic behavior. In the end, they were no longer able to…
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Call to Action: Tell Your Members of Congress to Certify the Election Results
On January 6, 2021, Congress will meet in a joint session to formally count the votes of the Electoral College. The states have already certified their votes and counted their own electors; Biden won with 306 to 232 for Trump. As per the Electoral Count Act of 1887, Congress must now count the electoral votes as submitted by the states. This is one of the last steps in the process for the November 2020 election, which was deemed the “most secure” election in American history. As Republican Senator Ben Sasse (NE) has stated, “not a single state is in legal doubt“; every legal attempt to prove election fraud — “an…
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Call to Action: Request Members of Congress Publicly Acknowledge Biden as President-Elect and Accept the Results of the Election
Election Day 2020 is over. Investigations have found this to be the “most secure” election in American history. Joseph Biden is now the presumed president-elect, having won both the popular vote (by more than 7 million votes) and the electoral college (with 306 votes). However, the outgoing president refuses to concede. This action is unprecedented, particularly given the overwhelming nature of the defeat. In a speech from the White House on Wednesday, December 2, Trump yet again called the election “rigged” and argued that “the results of the individual swing states must be overturned and overturned immediately.” Yet Attorney General William Barr has stated that the Justice Department has uncovered…
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A Deeper Dive: Citizens United, Super PACs, and Dark Money
In our introduction to federal campaign finance, we discussed the landmark Supreme Court case Citizens United v. FEC, which caused substantial waves in the world of campaign finance. Though it has now been more than 13 years since this case was decided, it is important to understand how this decision has influenced the topics and issues at play today. What was the case actually about? Citizens United is the name of a nonprofit organization that created a political documentary called “Hillary: The Movie.” This film was designed to criticize presidential candidate and then-Senator Hillary Clinton. It was scheduled to be released right before the Democratic primary elections in January 2008,…
