The Electoral College is an unnecessary burden in elections in America. It keeps gumming up the works.
In U.S. presidential elections—but not in any other elections–the winner is determined not by who wins the most votes nationwide but by who wins a majority in the Electoral College, with every state having an elector for each state’s U.S. House and Senate seat.
This system is undemocratic and antiquated. With the Electoral College System, five times, including in 2000 and 2016, the loser of the popular vote has won the Electoral College vote and the election. For example, the Electoral College brought us Donald Trump. He lost the popular vote in 2016 but won more electoral votes and became President.
The Electoral College allocates electors based on each state’s representation in Congress, tipping the scales in favor of smaller states. For example, a Wyoming resident’s vote counts 3.6 times as much as a California resident’s vote.
Sometimes it can give the erroneous impression of a landslide victory, as it did in 1980 when Ronald Reagan won 50.8 percent of the popular vote, but over 90 percent of the Electoral College.
While campaigning for the presidency, Elizabeth Warren called for the end of the Electoral College. In 2012 even Donald Trump had called it undemocratic.
One obvious answer is to get rid of the Electoral College. But that would be very difficult as it would require changing the Constitution.
Most of the public (55 %) would rather elect the President just as they elect most other officials—vote and give the victory to the person with the most votes.
And there is a way to do that without changing the Constitution or eliminating the Electoral College. That way is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC).
The National Popular Vote compact is based on a simple principle: the American people should pick who serves as the President of the United States, and the candidate with the most votes should win. The NPVIC would guarantee the presidency to the candidate who received the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The legislation would ensure that every vote would be equal throughout the U.S. and that every vote, in every state, would matter in every presidential election.
Since 2007, states have been steadily moving to reform the Electoral College and use it differently so that we can have a popular vote for President. There is no need for a Constitutional amendment to implement a national popular vote. Article II section 1 of the Constitution reads: “Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors…” In other words, states have broad power over the Electoral College.
Current Situation: The National Popular Vote bill has been enacted into law in 16 jurisdictions possessing 196 electoral votes, including four small states (D.E., HI, RI, VT), eight medium-sized states (C.O., CT, MD, MA, NJ, NM, OR, WA), three big states (C.A., IL, NY), and the District of Columbia. It will take effect when enacted into law by states possessing 270 electoral votes (a majority of the 538 electoral votes).
By 2019, the bill had passed 36 legislative chambers in 23 states, but not in both chambers in eight states.
I agree with the New York Times, which said, “It’s time for states that have been on the fence about the national popular vote compact to get off and sign on.”