What's in the U.S. Congress's Electoral Count Reform Act?

The U.S. Congress is poised to pass legislation that would tighten the way presidential elections are certified, aiming to prevent a repeat of the chaos that followed Donald Trump's 2020 presidential defeat.

Here are details on the Electoral Count Reform Act, which lawmakers included in a year-end government funding bill:

AIMS TO PREVENT ANOTHER JAN. 6

The bipartisan effort would rewrite the 1887 Electoral Count Act, which lays out the process by which Congress tallies the state-by-state results from a presidential election and formally certifies the winner. Critics say the law is poorly written and open to misinterpretation.

The congressional session, which takes place roughly two months after the election, was largely seen as a formality until Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent lawmakers from certifying Democrat Joe Biden's victory.