Barbara Boxer introducing bill to abolish Electoral College
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is introducing a bill Tuesday that would abolish the Electoral College and determine the winner of presidential elections by the outcome of the popular vote.
“The Electoral College is an outdated, undemocratic system that does not reflect our modern society.” – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
This legislation comes on the heels of a Donald Trump victory in the 2016 presidential election despite being behind Hillary Clinton in the popular vote by nearly one million votes. Trump is poised to become the fifth person in U.S. history to lose the popular vote and still become president.
Senator Boxer released the following statement:
“In my lifetime, I have seen two elections where the winner of the general election did not win the popular vote. When all the ballots are counted, Hillary Clinton will have won the popular vote by a margin that could exceed two million votes, and she is on track to have received more votes than any other presidential candidate in history except Barack Obama.”
“This is the only office in the land where you can get more votes and still lose the presidency. The Electoral College is an outdated, undemocratic system that does not reflect our modern society, and it needs to change immediately. Every American should be guaranteed that their vote counts.”
“In 2012, Donald Trump tweeted, ‘The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy,’ I couldn’t agree more. One person, one vote!”
The likelihood of Boxer’s bill passing is very low in part due to a lame duck session and a Republican congress. The new bill would amend the Constitution of the United States, and would take effect within seven years after its passage in the U.S. Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the states.
