美国国家公共电台 NPR--The House just passed a bill that would make it harder to overthrow an election

The House just passed a bill that would make it harder to overthrow¹ an election

Transcript²

The House on Wednesday passed a set of electoral reforms aimed at shoring up ambiguities³ and archaic⁴ language in the presidential certification process, some of which former President Donald Trump⁵ and his allies tried to exploit in their efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The Presidential Election Reform Act was introduced by Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., both of whom sit on the Democratic-led House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Their legislation passed in the House 229-203, with nine Republicans voting with all Democrats⁶ in favor. Most of the nine had also voted for Trump's impeachment⁷ in the wake of the Capitol attack.

The 38-page bill would make a number of changes to the law that governs how Electoral College votes are submitted by states and then counted by Congress, known as the Electoral Count Act. Notably⁸, the legislation would make it more difficult for members of Congress to muck up the certification process with objections that aren't based on legitimate⁹ concerns, and would clarify that the vice¹⁰ president's role in counting electoral votes is strictly¹¹ ministerial.

"Our bill reaffirms what the Constitution and existing law make plain: The vice president has no authority or discretion¹² to reject official state electoral slates," Cheney said before the vote.

Legal experts have been clamoring for updates to the Electoral Count Act, which was written in 1887, for years.

"Imagine that there was a law on the books requiring you to travel by horse and buggy. That is literally¹³ what the Electoral Count Act is like," Rebecca Green, co-director of the election law program at the College of William & Mary, said in an interview with NPR earlier this year.

The bill passed by the House is similar but not identical to somewhat narrower legislation that a bipartisan group of senators led by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., have been working on this year.

Collins told The Washington Post this week that she prefers the Senate legislation, as it already has the approval of enough Republicans in that chamber¹⁴ to pass the filibuster¹⁵ threshold.

"I much prefer our bill, which is the product of months of study, input¹⁶ from constitutional and election experts, and is a bill that has garnered¹⁷ widespread bipartisan support," Collins said. "I believe that we can work this out, and I hope that we both do so."

During Wednesday's debate, Republicans in the House raised issues with how quickly the bill was brought to a vote but seemed open to the general idea of Electoral Count Act reform.

It's unclear when the Senate will take up any legislation related to the Electoral Count Act, but experts say it's important it happens soon, before the 2024 presidential cycle heats up in earnest.

"The time to address [these problems] is now," said Ned Foley, an election law expert at The Ohio State University, in an interview earlier this year. "Now is the maximum veil of ignorance: where the two political parties don't know exactly what the lay of the land is going to be in '24 and '25, and so there's a greater chance of bipartisan consensus¹⁸ on the clear procedures for governing the process."

1 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 ambiguities   

n.歧义( ambiguity的名词复数 )；意义不明确；模棱两可的意思；模棱两可的话

参考例句：

• His reply was full of ambiguities. 他的答复非常暧昧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Fortunately, no ambiguities hang about this word or about its opposite, indeterminism. 值得庆幸的是，关于这个词和它的反义词，非决定论都不存在多种解释。 来自哲学部分

4 archaic   

adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的

参考例句：

• The company does some things in archaic ways,such as not using computers for bookkeeping.这个公司有些做法陈旧，如记账不使用电脑。
• Shaanxi is one of the Chinese archaic civilized origins which has a long history.陕西省是中国古代文明发祥之一，有悠久的历史。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

8 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

9 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

10 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

11 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

12 discretion   

n.谨慎；随意处理

参考例句：

• You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。
• Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

13 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

14 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

15 filibuster   

n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠

参考例句：

• A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
• The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。

16 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

17 garnered   

v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith gradually garnered a national reputation as a financial expert. 史密斯先生逐渐赢得全国金融专家的声誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals. 他的提议得到了广泛的支持。 来自辞典例句

18 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？