“The desire to abolish the Electoral College is driven by the idea Democrats want rural America to go away politically,” Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said on Twitter. 1. The best option is a compromise between the Electoral College and the popular vote through as a proportional apportionment of the Electoral College. Come this November, many of us Americans will journey to our specified polling place to cast a vote for the next President of the United States. Bayh–Celler amendment (1969) The closest the United States has come to abolishing the Electoral College occurred during the 91st Congress (1969–1971). In 2016, Hillary Clinton won 65,845,063 votes while Donald Trump won 62,980,160 votes – a difference of nearly three million votes and a 2.1 percentage point lead in the popular vote. This system would also maintain the point system included with the current Electoral College and would allow every election to still have a distinct winner. Similarly, among Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio, the candidates spent 71 percent of their advertising money. So, let me make the case for its abolition and its replacement by a simple national popular vote, to be held in an entity we will call (what the heck) the United States of America. Following a lengthy legal battle in the courts, Bush ultimately managed a victory in 2000 after the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in the landmark case Bush v. Gore. But the long history of failed reform attempts hasn’t made this outmoded institution any less undemocratic — it’s time we finally abolished the Electoral College. If, say, environmental sustainability or abortion or the Second Amendment is your dominant concern, it does not matter whether you live in Wyoming or California, Pennsylvania or Delaware. The Declaration of Independence says, “We … But explaining exactly how it does this remains a mystery. Opens in new window. A nationwide recount of the popular vote would be disastrous. Letter to the Editor submission. Despite those who do not realize it, the United States is a Republic. First, and most obviously, such a system would conform to the dominant democratic value that has prevailed in American politics ever since the one-person, one-vote reapportionment rulings of the early 1960s. Third, defenders of the Electoral College also claim that it supports the underlying value of federalism. Posted by: Sthorn. New York Times Editorial Board Member Jesse Wegman on Why We Should Abolish the Electoral College By Meredith Wolf Schizer On 03/17/20 at 12:08 PM EDT By Jack Rakove, the William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies and a professor of political science. Opens in new window. The keyword: popular. THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE: Should We Abolish the Electoral College? ... Why We Should Abolish the Electoral College. This has heightened calls to abolish what some say is an antiquated system of electors. But really, scholars say, consensus is constructed through thousands of small acts over generations. Many people are under the mistaken impression that the United States is a Democracy. This year is the poster child for the need for reform. Imagine a Florida-style recount in every precinct in America. The three-fifths clause became irrelevant with the end of slavery (thankfully! “Swing” or “battleground” states are mere accidents of geography. In the case of the 2000 election, the close race between candidates only required the recount of the state of Florida. Monday, December 13, 2004. By Jack Rakove, the William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies and a professor of political science. Imagine a hurricane hitting the southeast just before the election, … This perception is reinforced by the red- and blue-state imagery that controls our view of the electoral process. Each state would be divided into electoral districts with one vote and an elector would vote based on which candidate received the majority of their district’s votes, not their state’s votes.