WASHINGTON — Americans who were educated on congressional proposals aimed at preventing another Jan. 6 attack prefer Senate reforms to a more far-reaching House bill, the University of Arizona’s National Institute for Civic Discourse found in an informed opinion poll conducted over the summer.
The House and the Senate have crafted competing bipartisan proposals that would reform how Congress counts electoral votes.
Although the two bills are similar, they diverge on a so-called objection threshold.
Current law allows one member of the House and one member of the Senate to object to an elector or slate of electors, making it relatively easy for a minority of politicians to cast doubt on the legitimacy of an election. That’s exactly what happened ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The House’s legislation would raise the objection threshold to one-third of each chamber; the Senate’s measure would raise it to one-fifth of each chamber.
In the informed opinion poll — unlike traditional surveys, participants read detailed policy briefs before taking a position — 75% of participants supported raising the threshold to one-fifth of each chamber. That number included 93% of Democrats, 77% of independents and 53% of Republicans.