Abolishing The Electoral College: Amendments And Political Will

The Electoral College, a group of intermediaries designated by the US Constitution to select the president and vice president, has been the subject of much debate and over 700 proposals to reform or abolish it in the last 200 years. The College was established as a compromise between those who wanted Congress to choose the president and those who wanted a direct popular vote. However, the College has faced criticism for its failure to accurately represent the popular vote, with several presidential candidates winning despite losing the popular vote. As a result, there have been numerous attempts to abolish it, including through constitutional amendments, which would require significant consensus, with at least two-thirds affirmation from both the House and Senate and approval from at least 38 out of 50 states. Another alternative is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC), which would award electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote.

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A constitutional amendment

The Electoral College has been a topic of debate in the United States for many years, with over 700 proposals introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate it. The Electoral College is a system that allows for the election of the US president and is based on Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution. This system has been criticised for its potential to create discrepancies between the popular vote and the Electoral College results, with some votes in presidential elections being considered more valuable than others.

Abolishing the Electoral College would require a constitutional amendment, a challenging and laborious process. The US Constitution outlines a specific procedure for making amendments, as described in Article V. To amend the Constitution and abolish the Electoral College, the following steps would need to be taken:

• A two-thirds majority vote in both the House and the Senate is required. This means that at least two-thirds of both chambers of Congress must vote in favour of the amendment.
• After passing in Congress, the proposed amendment must be ratified by the states.
• Ratification by at least three-quarters of the states, or currently 38 out of 50 states, is necessary for the amendment to be adopted.

While it is challenging to achieve the required consensus for a constitutional amendment, it is not impossible. In the past, Congress has come close to abolishing the Electoral College. During the 91st Congress (1969-1971), public concerns over the disparity between the popular vote and electoral vote led to the introduction of House Joint Resolution 681. The proposal received support from 30 state legislatures, but ultimately failed to pass due to opposition from senators arguing that abolishing the Electoral College would reduce their states' political influence.

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 also introduced a companion resolution in the House of Representatives in 2017. These efforts demonstrate the ongoing desire for reform and the pursuit of a more democratic election process.

Significant consensus

The Electoral College has been a topic of debate in the United States for many years, with over 700 attempts to reform or abolish it in the last two centuries. The College was created to ensure that large states did not dominate small ones in presidential elections, and to balance power between Congress and state legislatures. However, in recent years, there has been a growing consensus that the Electoral College is no longer a constructive force in American politics and that it is time to move to a direct popular election of presidents.

Abolishing the Electoral College would require a significant consensus and a constitutional amendment. This process is laborious and challenging, requiring at least a two-thirds affirmation from both the House and the Senate, as well as approval from at least 38 out of 50 states. While Congress has nearly reached this threshold in the past, with a difference of just two votes in 1934 and three votes in 1979, the proposal has never been passed.

The partisan divisions on this issue are clear. Generally, Democrats tend to support the abolition of the Electoral College, while Republicans are incentivized to maintain the current system as it has benefited them in recent elections. However, public opinion polls show a more mixed picture, with some indicating a slight majority in favour of a direct popular vote, while others show a closer split between those who want a direct popular vote and those who want to keep the status quo.

Despite the challenges and divisions, there is a growing consensus that the Electoral College needs to be abolished. This is driven by concerns that its failures could undermine public confidence in American democracy, distort the popular will, and create a genuine constitutional crisis. Additionally, income inequality, geographic disparities, and discrepancies between the popular vote and the Electoral College further reinforce the need for change.

Direct popular vote

The Electoral College has been a topic of debate for many years, with over 700 proposals introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate it. The College was established in 1787 as a compromise between those who favoured election by Congress and those who favoured election by popular vote. The current system, which has changed little since its inception, gives each state electors equal to its representation in Congress, with the top vote-getter chosen by these electors becoming president.

However, in recent years, there has been a growing movement to abolish the Electoral College and move to a direct popular vote for the election of the US president and vice president. Proponents of this change argue that the Electoral College is no longer a constructive force in American politics and that it can lead to discrepancies between the popular vote and the Electoral College results.

Abolishing the Electoral College would require a constitutional amendment, which is a challenging and laborious process. It would need a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress and ratification from at least 38 out of 50 states. While this threshold has never been reached, Congress came close during the 91st Congress (1969-1971) when a proposal to abolish the Electoral College was introduced, but it ultimately failed due to opposition from senators and conservatives from small states.

Despite the challenges, there is still support for moving to a direct popular vote. Polls have shown that a majority of Americans favour this change, and some states have passed laws pledging their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. Additionally, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) provides an alternative framework for implementing a popular vote without amending the Constitution.

The debate around the Electoral College continues, and it remains to be seen whether the US will move towards a direct popular vote system for electing the president and vice president.

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Addressing partisan divisions

Partisan divisions have been evident in the history of attempts to abolish the Electoral College. The 1968 presidential election, for instance, saw Richard Nixon receive 56% of electors' votes, yet he only gained 0.6% more of the popular vote than his closest rival, Hubert Humphrey. This disparity between the popular vote and the electoral vote caused public concern. While the Democrats, who had narrowly lost the election, largely supported a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College, Republicans, who had won, were less inclined to do so.

In 1970, the proposal to abolish the Electoral College failed to pass, with southern senators and conservatives from small states, both Democrats and Republicans, arguing that abolishing the Electoral College would reduce their states' political influence. This highlights a further partisan divide, with smaller states generally favouring the Electoral College, as it gives them more political power than a direct popular vote would.

In 2000, a Gallup survey found that 73% of Democratic respondents supported a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College, while only 46% of Republicans did. This divide is also evident in more recent polls, with a 2019 NBC News and Wall Street Journal poll finding that 53% of Americans wanted a direct popular vote, while 43% wanted to keep the Electoral College.

The fact that the Electoral College currently benefits Republicans further complicates attempts to abolish it. In the last 20 years, two Republican presidents have been elected despite losing the popular vote, and this advantage incentivises Republicans to maintain the current system. Any attempt to abolish the Electoral College would require a significant number of Republican votes, which is unlikely given their recent advantage in the system.

Despite these partisan divisions, there have been moments of near-consensus on abolishing the Electoral College. In 1934, the proposal fell just two Senate votes short of passage, and in 1979, it failed by only three votes. In addition, some states with Republican-controlled legislatures have passed laws pledging all their electoral votes to whoever wins the national popular vote, indicating a potential shift in attitudes.

Supreme Court ruling

The Supreme Court has not directly addressed the issue of abolishing the Electoral College in its rulings. However, it has handed down decisions on related matters, which offer some insight into the Court's perspective on the role of the Electoral College in the US Constitution.

In McPherson v. Blacker (1892), the Supreme Court upheld that Congress could set the date for the Electoral College to meet, but also affirmed the states' authority to determine how electors were apportioned and chosen. This ruling recognised a degree of state autonomy in the Electoral College process, which has been a contentious issue in subsequent years.

In Ray v. Blair (1952), the Court ruled that the Constitution, including the 12th Amendment, does not prohibit a political party from requiring electors to pledge their support to the nominees of the national convention. This decision further emphasised the role of political parties and state discretion in the Electoral College system.

While the Supreme Court has not directly ruled on abolishing the Electoral College, it has acknowledged the significance of state involvement in the process. This suggests that any constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College would need to address the role of states and potentially require their consent or ratification, as outlined in Article V of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court's rulings in these cases reflect a recognition of the Electoral College's longstanding role in US presidential elections. However, they do not provide a definitive answer to the question of whether and how the Electoral College could be constitutionally abolished. Ultimately, a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College would require a significant consensus, including ratification by a substantial number of states, and it remains a highly debated and divisive issue in American politics.

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