61 percent support abolishing Electoral College in US: Poll
A large majority of American people want the US Constitution to be amended so that the Electoral College will be replaced with a popular vote system, according to a new poll from Gallup.
Sixty-one percent of the people support having a popular vote system, up 6 points from 2019 and up 12 points from 2016, the survey found.
Eighty-nine percent of Democrats and 68 percent of independents believe the Electoral College system should be replaced, whereas just 23 percent of Republicans support moving to a popular vote system.
Republican President Donald Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton secured the popular vote with a sizable lead of 2.8 million votes, tantamount to 2.1 percent of the total vote.
Nonetheless, Trump comfortably won the election by winning key states, thanks to the so-called Electoral College system.
The system overrides the popular vote, which gives the victory to the candidate winning the most ballots. It instead makes 538 electors across different states that are chosen based on each state’s representation in Congress, liable for electing the chief executive. Therefore, if a contestant secures at least 270 of the electoral votes, they have won the presidential race.
Opponents say the system counters the fundamentals of a democratic republic, calling for its abolition.
A candidate has won the race for the White House while losing the popular vote only four times in US history, however, it has happened twice in the past five presidential elections, with Trump and George W. Bush both losing the popular vote count, yet winning the White House.
Presently, public sentiment is near what it was after Bush won the race against Democrat Al Gore in 2000, when 60 percent favoured abolishing the Electoral College and 36 percent opposed.
While Democratic support for ending the Electoral College is the highest on record, GOP support is near its all-time low.
After Trump’s victory in November of 2016, 49 percent backed amending the Constitution and 47 percent opposed it, according to another Gallup poll.
In order for the Electoral College to be abolished, a two-thirds vote in both chambers of Congress and 75 percent support among the 50 states would be required, but that is an extremely unlikely prospect in this polarized political environment.
The Gallup poll surveyed 1,019 US adults between Aug. 31 and Sept. 13 and it has a 4 percentage point margin of error.
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