Congress is considering amending the Electoral Count Act of 1887 in an effort to prevent another insurrection attempt. The move comes ahead of the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

The Electoral Count Act calls for the counting of electoral votes for a president and aims to prevent congressional involvement in election disputes.

“We found out, surprisingly, how poorly written it is, how ambiguous many of its provisions are, how simply things could be triggered without merit. And so we're looking at how to reform that in a way that would have support across the spectrum, in terms of constitutional scholars," Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told NBC News.

Schiff added that that the status quo is "a point of great vulnerability in terms of our democracy."

Schiff said a “real crisis” could occur if an election came down to a single state that attempted to override the popular will of the voters and Congress was forced to interpret an ambiguous provision of the ECA. One of the changes under consideration would be raising the threshold to challenge electors to more than just one House member and one senator.

The Jan. 6 committee is expected to consider a “wide range” of legislative recommendations as their investigation continues.

Rep. Collin Allred, D-Texas, said the ECA must be clarified and that the vice president should not have the power to overturn the election.

“I don't think it was ever the intention that you could create a scenario where the vice president basically can decide whether or not we're still a democracy," he said.

Others have described the act as outdated.

"The antiquated law governing the Electoral College vote count is too vague and ripe for abuse, and it resulted in baseless objections that delayed the democratic process. It's time to update this law to safeguard our democracy," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell expressed that he's open to amending the ECA. "It obviously has some flaws," McConnell said.

Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., said there have been expressions of interest of members of his party to limit the vice president's ability to change election results.

"The role of the vice president needs to be codified, so it's clear what that is," Thune said.

The decision to amend the ECA comes as Democrats struggle to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act as both bills aim to ensure early voting, protect main-in voting, and make election day a national holiday. However, the key pieces of legislation will run into a GOP-backed filibuster which would require 60 votes in order to pass.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed to change the rules of the Senate for the bills to only require a majority vote to fulfill his party’s promise. Democrat Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema or Arizona have both expressed reluctance to change the filibuster in the past.

“The risk of reversing the results of a presidential election through the manipulation of the Electoral Count Act is catastrophic,” said legal scholar Matthew Seligman, adding Congress must fix the ECA before 2025 in order to protect American democracy.

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