The presidential election law that's showing its age

+ how beavers can help on climate change US Edition - Today's top story: The Electoral Count Act of 1887 is showing its age – here's how to help Congress certify a presidential election with more certainty [View in browser]( US Edition | 20 January 2022 [The Conversation]( You’d think that counting votes in a presidential election would be a simple thing. But “presidential elections in the U.S. are complicated,” writes election law scholar Derek Muller, and voters don’t directly elect the president. One complicated element of that indirect vote is the Electoral Count Act, an 1887 law passed after a disputed election to streamline Congress’ process of counting and certifying who has won the presidency. In recent years, including the 2020 election, the act has shown its weaknesses – prominent among them is the ability of lawmakers to object for spurious and partisan reasons to vote counts. “[These objections have undermined confidence in the outcome of presidential elections](,” Muller writes. He walks readers through the basics of the Electoral Count Act and how it can be fixed, noting that such reforms lend themselves to bipartisanship. In the end, Muller says, with reforms to the Electoral Count Act, “Congress cannot prevent all mischief, but it can reduce the possibility of mischief in the future.” Also today: - [New earthquake alerts work, but people don’t always respond]( - [The challenge of addressing ongoing health disparities]( - [People who are good at math care about their income]( Naomi Schalit Senior Editor, Politics + Society Vice President Mike Pence reads the final electoral vote counts declaring Joe Biden the next U.S. president during a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 7, 2021. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images [The Electoral Count Act of 1887 is showing its age – here’s how to help Congress certify a presidential election with more certainty]( Derek T. Muller, University of Iowa Concerned about problems in counting Electoral College votes that determine the next president, lawmakers are considering changes to the Electoral Count Act. What is the act, and what’s wrong with it? 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Examining one area of the brain may eventually lead to safer painkillers. - [The better you are at math, the more money seems to influence your satisfaction]( Ellen Peters, University of Oregon; Pär Bjälkebring, University of Gothenburg Compared to people who aren’t as good at math, people who are better at math are more happy when they have high incomes and less happy when they have lower incomes. Trending on site - [These machines scrub greenhouse gases from the air – an inventor of direct air capture technology shows how it works]( - [‘Don’t Look Up’: Hollywood’s primer on climate denial illustrates 5 myths that fuel rejection of science]( - [Taliban 2.0 aren’t so different from the first regime, after all]( Today's graphic [A chart showing data about how computer and internet access vary by household income.]( From the story, [State efforts to close the K-12 digital divide may come up short]( Like this newsletter? 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