The Electoral Count Act of 1887: Trump’s Hail Mary

As the world has turned the page on 2020, America is finding itself held back by a president who refuses to accept his loss in the presidential election, and elected officials who are determined to win at all costs. 

This week, on January 6th, Congress will meet in a joint session to count the votes from the electoral college. This is the last bit of housekeeping before Biden is sworn in as president on January 20th. For ardent Trump supporters who serve in Congress, January 6th is their last chance to overturn the election and deliver Trump the win he wants so badly. But it will all come down to the Electoral Count Act of 1887.

The Electoral Count Act of 1887 (ECA) is a federal law which establishes procedures for the counting of electoral votes by Congress following a presidential election. The ECA was created after the 1876 presidential election, between Rutherford Hayes and Samuel Tilden, which exposed serious flaws with the process of resolving election disputes. 

Adopted eleven years after the 1876 election, the Electoral Count Act of 1887 outlines the requirements, deadlines, and objection procedures of presidential elections in seven sections. Under the ECA, objecting electoral votes requires a written objection and must be signed by one Senator and one House member. An objection “shall state clearly and concisely, and without argument, the ground thereof.” A challenge in both the House and the Senate triggers a two-hour debate in both chambers to determine if the objection has merit, and then a vote in both chambers on if they will reject a state’s electoral votes. Since the Democrats control the House, it’s extremely unlikely there would be an agreement to reject state-certified votes. 

Earlier last month, the potential of a viable objection seemed far from plausible, with only support in the House by Republican Congressman Mo Brooks from Alabama who made it public knowledge he would challenge Joe Biden’s electoral victory on January 6th. In the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was asking Senate Republicans to not join Brooks in his coalition to oppose the electoral college count, given the Sisyphean task of overturning the results. But on December 30th junior Senator from Missouri Josh Hawley broke ranks and announced via Twitter he would object to Biden’s win on January 6th. 

Since the enactment of the Electoral Count Act of 1887, America has weathered other difficult election seasons, and only twice have formal objections been filed—1969 and 2005—neither were successful in overturning the results. 

Throughout this electoral process neither Trump nor the Republican party have been able to produce a single piece of evidence to verify claims of fraud unlike in the 1876 election when some states sent in multiple sets of ballots with competing results, which triggered a lot of confusion. In an already tumultuous time in America, the vow of objections by Republican elected officials only further divides our nation and advances the interests of one man’s goal, to remain in power. The ploy to leverage the Electoral Count Act of 1887 to secure Trump another four years puts party over country and sends a resounding message to the millions of Americans who voted on Election Day that their vote doesn’t count.

While the likelihood of Biden’s victory being overturned on January 6th is implausible, the sideshow being put on by the Republicans should not be forgotten. Americans must take note and ensure every Republican who refused to speak out and sought to undermine the results in the 2020 election are voted out in the next one. Let the 2022 election be written as an epitaph of those who sought to uphold the power of one man instead of the will of the people. 

The Electoral Count Act of 1887 has become a spectacle of the 2020 presidential election, and regardless of how many tweets Trump sends or Republican officials who have taken on the futile task of tilting at windmills, Trump will find himself in the company of other one-term presidents. 

Trump has exhausted many resources, time, and tweets on this election. Despite Trump’s doggish attempts to undermine the results and stonewall the process, the electoral system marches forward and Joe Biden will be the next President of the United States.