# Plain Language Summary: Conspiracy to Obstruct the Electoral Count Act

This bill would make it a federal crime for a sitting President to interfere with how electoral votes are counted and certified after a presidential election. Specifically, it would prohibit a President from trying to stop Congress from certifying election results, pressuring the Vice President to reject or change state-certified electoral votes, pressuring any government official to swap in fake electors, pressuring officials to "find" additional votes, or pressuring officials to make false claims about the election. If a President violated any of these rules, they could face fines and prison time—with the maximum sentence matching penalties for obstructing government proceedings.

The bill targets a very specific scenario: the period between when Americans vote and when Congress officially counts and certifies those votes to declare a winner. Right now, there's no specific federal law that makes it a crime for a President to try to interfere with this process. This bill would close that gap by creating a new criminal offense. The penalties would apply only to the President, not to other officials or private citizens who might try similar tactics.

In practical terms, this would mean that actions like calling state officials and asking them to change vote counts, pressuring the Vice President to reject electoral votes from certain states, or attempting to replace legitimate electors with fake ones would all become federal crimes if done by a sitting President. The bill essentially says that once an election is over and votes are certified by states, the President cannot use their power to try to overturn or delay that result through pressure or obstruction.

Conspiracy to Obstruct the Electoral Count Act

Torres, Ritchie

Conspiracy to Obstruct the Electoral Count Act This bill prohibits the President from interfering with the determination of electoral votes and establishes penalties for violations. Specifically, the bill prohibits the President from obstructing the certification of electoral votes by Congress or pressuring <ul> <li>the Vice President during such certification to discount a state-certified slate of electors or count an alternate slate of electors; </li> <li>a federal, state, or local official to substitute an alternate slate of electors; </li> <li>a federal, state, or local official to find votes; or</li> <li>a federal, state, or local official to make false claims about a presidential election. </li> </ul> <ul> </ul> <ul> </ul>