Simone Lawson
The Electoral College, established by Article II, Section 1 of the US Constitution, has faced over 700 attempts at reform or abolition since its inception in 1787. The most recent of these attempts was in 2024, when Democratic Senators Brian Schatz, Dick Durbin, and Peter Welch proposed a constitutional amendment to abolish it. The Electoral College has faced criticism due to its failure to represent the popular vote in two of the last five presidential elections. However, abolishing it would require a constitutional amendment, which would need a two-thirds majority in Congress and ratification from three-fourths of US states. This has proven difficult to achieve, with the closest attempt occurring during the 91st Congress (1969-1971).
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What You'll Learn
The Electoral College is constitutionally mandated
The Electoral College is a system for electing the US president, established by the Founding Fathers in 1787. It is mandated by the US Constitution, with the basis for the Electoral College found in Article II, Section 1, which outlines how the president should be chosen. The 12th Amendment, ratified in 1804, further clarified the Electoral College system, providing for separate votes for president and vice president.
The Electoral College has faced significant criticism and there have been numerous attempts to abolish or reform it. Over the years, there have been over 700 proposals to either eradicate or modify the Electoral College. In 1969, the New York Times reported that 30 state legislatures were likely to approve a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College. The closest the US came to abolishing it was during the 91st Congress (1969-1971). In 2005 and 2009, US Representative Gene Green introduced legislation to abolish the Electoral College. Similar joint resolutions have been introduced by other representatives and senators.
The Electoral College can only be abolished by amending the Constitution, which requires a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states. This process is challenging and has not been successful despite numerous attempts. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) has emerged as an alternative, aiming to bypass the constitutional amendment process, but it also faces legal and practical challenges.
The debate around the Electoral College is often polarised, with partisan divisions influencing sentiments. Some argue that abolishing the Electoral College would reduce the political influence of smaller states. On the other hand, there are concerns that maintaining the status quo could lead to systemic challenges, especially if the popular vote winner is regularly prevented from becoming president.
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Over 700 proposals to abolish or modify the Electoral College
The Electoral College has been criticised since its establishment, and there have been numerous efforts to reform or abolish it. Over the last two centuries, there have been over 700 proposals to either abolish or significantly modify the Electoral College.
The Electoral College was established by Article II, Section 1 of the United States Constitution in 1789 as a group of people independent of the government who would vote on who should become president in the nation's quadrennial elections. The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and the election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The Electoral College system has changed little since its inception, although the popular vote has been rightfully guaranteed to millions more previously denied on the basis of race, gender, and age.
The closest the United States has come to abolishing the Electoral College was during the 91st Congress (1969-1971). The presidential election of 1968 resulted in Richard Nixon receiving 301 electoral votes (56% of electors), while Hubert Humphrey received 191 (35.5%) and George Wallace received 46 (8.5%) with 13.5% of the popular vote. However, Nixon had only received 511,944 more popular votes than Humphrey, 43.5% to 42.9%, less than 1% of the national total. Representative Emanuel Celler (D-New York), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, responded to public concerns over the disparity between the popular vote and electoral vote by introducing House Joint Resolution 681, a proposed Constitutional amendment that would have replaced the Electoral College with a simpler plurality system based on the national popular vote. With this system, the pair of candidates who received the highest number of votes would win the presidency and vice presidency provided they won at least 40% of the national popular vote. The proposal failed to receive the required two-thirds majority in the Senate, and it died when the 91st Congress ended on January 3, 1971.
In 1979, another Senate vote to establish a direct popular vote failed by just three votes. The 95th Congress proposed a total of 41 relevant amendments in 1977 and 1978, and the 116th Congress has already introduced three amendments to end the Electoral College. Congress nearly eradicated the Electoral College in 1934, falling just two Senate votes short of passage.
Proponents of abolishing the Electoral College argue that it does not provide for a direct democratic election, it gives an advantage to less populous states, and it allows a candidate to win the presidency without winning the most votes. In recent years, there have been several contested elections where the candidate who won the popular vote lost the Electoral College. This has happened in three elections, 1824, 1876, and 1888, and more recently in 2000 and 2016. In 2016, Hillary Clinton received 2.87 million more popular votes than Donald Trump, a margin of 2%, while Trump received 304 electoral votes to Clinton's 227, a margin of 34%.
Abolishing the Electoral College would require a constitutional amendment, which would need significant consensus – at least two-thirds affirmation from both the House and the Senate, and approval from at least 38 out of 50 states. While there have been over 700 proposals to amend the Electoral College, none have received the approval of two-thirds of Congress and three-fourths of the states required to amend the Constitution.
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The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC)
The NPVIC is based on the idea that the current system has shortcomings due to state-level "winner-take-all" laws that award all of a state's electoral votes to the candidate receiving the most popular votes in that particular state. The compact seeks to address this by awarding all the electoral votes of the participating states to the candidate who wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This would ensure that the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide becomes president.
The NPVIC has gained support from various sources, including policy institutes, elected officials, and academics. One argument in favour of the NPVIC is that it would encourage presidential candidates to campaign in more states and provide a more democratic alternative to the current system. Additionally, it would prevent situations where a candidate wins the electoral college but loses the popular vote, as has happened in two of the last five presidential elections.
However, the NPVIC also faces several challenges and criticisms. Firstly, it is unclear how voters would respond if their state electors collectively voted against the popular vote of their state. Secondly, there are no legal repercussions if a state elector decides to defect from the national popular vote. Thirdly, the NPVIC is likely to face constitutional challenges, as there is ongoing legal debate about the interpretation of the Compact Clause of Article I, Section X, and states' plenary power under the Elections Clause of Article II, Section I.
Despite these challenges, the NPVIC represents an effort to reform the Electoral College and ensure that the candidate with the most votes nationwide is elected president. It remains to be seen whether the NPVIC will gain enough support to take effect and whether it will be able to withstand potential constitutional challenges.
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The direct election plan
The Electoral College has been the subject of much debate, with over 700 attempts to reform or abolish it in the last two centuries. The direct election plan, also known as the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC), aims to abolish the Electoral College and provide for the direct popular election of the President and Vice President of the United States. This plan has gained support from those who argue that the current system reduces the political influence of small states and has resulted in presidents being elected despite losing the popular vote.
More recently, in 2016, Senator Barbara Boxer introduced a proposal to abolish the Electoral College and provide for the direct popular election of the President and Vice President. Representative Steve Cohen introduced a companion resolution in the House of Representatives in 2017. These efforts reflect the growing sentiment among Americans for a direct popular vote. Polls conducted in 2019 found that between 50% and 53% of respondents wanted a direct popular vote, while between 34% and 43% wanted to keep the status quo.
However, despite these efforts, a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College is unlikely to pass in the current environment. This is due to partisan divisions, with Republican officials and voters supporting the current system as it has benefited them in recent elections. Additionally, the process of amending the Constitution is laborious and requires significant consensus, with at least two-thirds affirmation from both the House and Senate and approval from at least 38 out of 50 states.
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The Every Vote Counts Amendment
The Electoral College has been a topic of debate for decades, with over 700 attempts to reform or abolish it. The college is constitutionally mandated, and abolishing it would require a constitutional amendment. This would be a laborious process, requiring significant consensus, with at least two-thirds affirmation from both the House and the Senate, and approval from at least 38 out of 50 states.
The closest the US has come to abolishing the Electoral College was during the 91st Congress (1969-1971). In 1968, Richard Nixon received 56% of electors' votes, yet had only received 0.5% more popular votes than Hubert Humphrey. This disparity between the popular vote and the electoral vote led to public concerns and the introduction of House Joint Resolution 681, a proposed constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College. The proposal passed in the House Judiciary Committee by a vote of 11 to 6, but two motions for cloture failed to receive the required two-thirds of senators voting, and the proposal was never considered again.
In recent years, there has been renewed debate about the Electoral College, particularly after the 2016 election, when a presidential candidate won despite losing the popular vote. Polling has shown that a majority of Americans, particularly Democrats, support a direct popular vote and a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College. However, there are clear partisan divisions, with Republican voters and officials wanting to maintain the current system as it benefits their party.
Despite the challenges, many believe it is time to move ahead with abolishing the Electoral College to prevent further undermining of public confidence in American democracy and potential constitutional crises.
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Frequently asked questions
The Electoral College is the current system for electing the US president, established in 1787.
There have been over 700 attempts to abolish or reform the Electoral College. The main argument for abolishing it is that it has, in two of the last five presidential elections, resulted in a candidate winning the election despite losing the popular vote.
The Electoral College can only be abolished by amending the US Constitution, which would require a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states.
The closest the US has come to abolishing the Electoral College was during the 91st Congress (1969-1971).
One alternative is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC), which would take effect when enough states have entered the compact to reach a majority of electoral votes (270 out of 538).
