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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
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Doyle McManus

Doyle McManus: Congress is moving toward fixing the way it counts votes for president, but it won't be easy

Donald Trump United States Hang Mike Pence Mike Pence Joe Manchin III Susan Collins Washington D.C.

WASHINGTON — Last week, a bipartisan group of 16 U.S. senators agreed on a long-awaited proposal to fix the Electoral Count Act, the ramshackle 1887 law that then-President Donald Trump used to try to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump claimed the law, which sets the rules under which Congress counts electoral votes, allowed then-Vice President Mike Pence to block votes from states that Joe Biden won. Pence refused, which is why the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, chanted "Hang Mike Pence."

Trump also argued that the law empowers state legislatures to set aside the popular vote at will. He lobbied GOP leaders in swing states to appoint rogue slates of Trump electors, but none played along.

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