Agroup of Democratic U.S.senators on Monday introduced legislation intended to end the Electoral College.
Democrats have criticized the Electoral College for decades, as Republicans have many times won the presidency through the Electoral College without winning the popular vote. While some feared President-elect Donald Trump might continue the trend, he was able to win the popular vote as well.
‘The Democrat Party wants monopoly.’
“A group of Senate Democrats introduce bill to abolish the Electoral College, restoring democracy by allowing the direct election of presidents through popular vote alone,” read a statement from the Senate Judicial Committee.
“In an election, the person who gets the most votes should win. It’s that simple,” said Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii. “No one’s vote should count for more based on where they live. The Electoral College is outdated and it’s undemocratic. It’s time to end it.”
Defenders of the Electoral College have argued that without it, presidential candidates would shift their focus to campaigning in only the most populous states and neglect all others.
“Eleven blue states will decide the president,” said “LevinTV” host Mark Levin in October. “All the rest of the country — the 39 other states, tens of millions of people — will literally have no say in the election of the president.”
He went on to explain that all of the campaigning would take place in populous cities, and rural Americans would be completely neglected.
“The big metropolitan cities will decide who’s president, which would be an utter and complete disaster, but the Democrat Party wants monopoly,” he added.
Others pointed out that doing away with the Electoral College would require far more than a majority vote in Congress.
“That requires a constitutional amendment not a ‘bill,'” replied BlazeTV media critic Rob Eno. “You don’t do a federal constitutional amendment on ‘the ballots’ you pass a constitutional amendment in the House and senate [sic] and send to the states for ratification, or you call a convention of the states.”
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) issued his opposition to the plot.
“Yes, the Constitution was ratified during the 18th century Does that mean we should ditch it? No! The Electoral College was from the beginning — and is today — a fundamental part of our Constitution,” he wrote on social media. “Many of our most best laws are old. The Constitution is one of them. Protect it!”
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