The Case Against the Electoral College

[steven_huang]

Election day is a few days away and this year's election is one of the most contentious. With Covid-19 entering its second wave, voters are not only changing how they vote, but who they are voting for. In some states like Pennsylvania, the gap has become narrower and the proposed winner will presumably claim victory by razor thin margins. One poll from Reuters even indicated that in some states North Carolina and Florida, the difference between the two are neck-to-neck with North Carolina being 49% for Biden and 48% for Trump, and Florida with 49% for Biden and 47% for Trump¹. 

With the election coming to a close, several prolific politicians like Elizabeth Warren have expressed interest in abolishing the electoral college². One argument for abolishing the system is that there is an inherent risk that the Electoral College will over-represent the views of a minority due to its structure³. 

Winning the popular vote but losing the electoral vote has happened before: four years ago in one of the biggest upsets in the presidential election, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 2.9 million but lost the election⁴.  This had happened again with Al Gore and Bush in the 2000 election with Al Gore winning the 540,000 vote lead in the popular vote but lost he still lost the election⁵.

For more information on why people are for or against the Electoral College, check out this great article from pew that gives a comprehensive breakdown: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/03/13/a-majority-of-americans-continue-to-favor-replacing...

1.Lange, Jason. “Trump Pulls Statistically Even with Biden in Florida; Arizona Is a Dead Heat: Reuters/Ipsos.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 28 Oct. 2020, www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-battlegrounds-poll/trump-pulls-statistically-even-with-biden....

2. Rummler, Orion. “Where Each 2020 Democrat Stands on Abolishing the Electoral College.” Axios, 7 Apr. 2019, www.axios.com/electoral-college-2020-presidential-election-candidates-94d89ca6-b402-4de3-ae8e-061395....

3. West, Darrell M. “It's Time to Abolish the Electoral College.” Brookings, Brookings, 13 Mar. 2020, www.brookings.edu/policy2020/bigideas/its-time-to-abolish-the-electoral-college/

4. Abramson, Alana. “Hillary Clinton Officially Wins Popular Vote by Nearly 2.9 Million.” ABC News, ABC News Network, abcnews.go.com/Politics/hillary-clinton-officially-wins-popular-vote-29-million/story?id=44354341.

5. Ibid