Should the U.S. Abolish the Electoral College?
The electoral college was established in 1788. The Founding Fathers created the electoral college as a compromise between electing the president via a vote in Congress only or via a popular vote only. The electoral college comprises 538 electors; each state is allowed one elector for each Representative and Senator (D.C. is allowed 3 electors as established by the Twenty-Third Amendment). On election day, voters choosing a presidential candidate are actually casting a vote for an elector. For a candidate to win the presidency, they must win at least 270 electoral college votes. For more on the electoral college, explore the ProCon debate.
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“The brilliance of the Electoral College is that you must go to many States to win. With the Popular Vote, you go to just the large States – the Cities would end up running the Country. Smaller States & the entire Midwest would end up losing all power – & we can’t let that happen. I used to like the idea of the Popular Vote, but now realize the Electoral College is far better for the U.S.A.”
“The Electoral College is actually genius in that it brings all states, including the smaller ones, into play. Campaigning is much different!”
“Well, I mean, I`m not going to change my mind [about the electoral college] just because I won. But I would rather see it where you went with simple votes. You know, you get 100 million votes and somebody else gets 90 million votes and you win. There`s a reason for doing this because it brings all the states into play, the Electoral College, and there`s something very good about that. But this is a different system, but I respect it. I do respect the system.”
“The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy.”
-Donald Trump, twitter.com, Mar. 19, 2019
Donald Trump, twiiter.com, Nov. 15, 2016
MSNBC, “Hardball with Chris Matthews, Transcript 11/15/2016,” msnbc.com, Nov. 15, 2016
Donald Trump, twitter.com, Nov. 6, 2012