Press Releases

Today, Congressman Salud Carbajal voted with a bipartisan majority of the U.S. House of Representatives to advance legislation designed to reform and strengthen the presidential election process and protect future elections from exploitation and false attacks.

The Presidential Election Reform Act clarifies the processes, authorities, and roles played by state and federal elected officials in the certification of presidential elections to prevent manipulation like the illegal attempts that were made to overturn the 2020 election before and during the January 6^th insurrection.

“The January 6th insurrection was one of the darkest days in our history, and the events of that day and those leading up to it show us what we risk if we do not fiercely defend the democratic processes that form the foundation of our nation,” said Congressman Carbajal. “Since that harrowing day, I have worked with my colleagues and supported our Select Committee in their work with one goal in mind: to understand fully how and why the January 6th insurrection occurred, and what we can do to protect our democracy from any future threat. This bill is one way that we are preventing another attack on our democracy.”

“The Electoral Count Act has not been updated since its passage in 1887, and its lack of clarity has allowed former President Trump and his allies to exploit it for their own schemes. By reforming its language, we make great strides in protecting the rule of law and all future elections from similar threat.”

The Presidential Election Reform Act (PERA):

• Reaffirms the Constitutional law that the Vice President of the United States does not have authority to reject electoral slates or delay certification of election results.
• Raises the threshold and narrows the parameters for when a Member of Congress can object to the results of an election. Current law allows one member of each chamber (House and Senate) to trigger an objection. The PERA would raise that threshold to one-third of each chamber.
• Requires governors to transmit lawful election results to Congress, and makes clear that state legislatures cannot retroactively change electoral laws in order to change the outcome of an election.

The measure passed by the House today moves to the Senate for its consideration, where there is a similar bipartisan groundswell to reform the Electoral Count Act and tighten these parameters.

More information on the Presidential Election Reform Act can be found here.