The ECA clashes with principles of federalism and the separation of powers. The Framers didn’t want the executive branch to be beholden to the legislative branch, so they designed an Electoral College to elect the President independent of Congress. Voters in each state register their choice for President by choosing a slate of electors, whose votes are then transmitted to Congress to be logged.

Yet the ECA allows Congress to unconstitutionally interfere with state decisions. Members of the House and Senate can claim electoral votes are not “regularly given” or “lawfully certified,” holding up the count and disqualifying electors if a majority in both houses agrees.

The ECA’s vague language has become a license for Congress to assume a role in the presidential election process that neither the Constitution’s framers nor the 19th-century authors of the ECA intended. Sen. Josh Hawley pointed to, among other things, political interference by social-media companies in objecting to the 2020 results. Democrats cited Russian interference in 2016 and long Ohio voting lines in 2004. These may be legitimate issues, but Congress can address them through legislation.