OPINION: An end to the Electoral College

Photo via: Sen. Jeff Merkley/Public domain/Wikimedia Commons

Alaina Sayre, a Freshman studying Journalism, argues that the Electoral College should be replaced, as seen in our print publication.

Throughout the history of the United States, there have been five instances in which the candidate elected as president did not receive the majority popular vote. This can be explained by one of the key institutions of our democracy: the Electoral College. 

In the past 200 years, more than 700 proposals have been made to amend the Electoral College, and only one has been passed that changed the structural foundation of it. According to the National Archives, there have been more proposals for Constitutional amendments to the Electoral College than any other subject. 

The Electoral College has yet to be changed due to the argument that it prevents highly-populated states from controlling the elections and gives rural areas a voice. However, instead of placing the focus on less populated states, the Electoral College causes candidates to focus on swing states almost exclusively, as those states most commonly decide the result of the elections. 

Today, many people still have problems with the way the Electoral College controls our country. According to a Pew Research Center study done in 2024, 63% of Americans would prefer for the winner of the presidential election to be the candidate who wins the most votes nationally. 

However, many people who oppose Electoral College reform have previously benefited from its flaws. For example, Pew Research Center reports that following Trump’s Electoral College win and popular vote loss in 2016, just 27% of Republicans supported a popular vote system. To compare, in 2012, 54% of Republicans supported a change to the popular vote. 

Reforms like the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) have been proposed but none have been passed on a federal level. The NPVIC requires all states that join to allocate all electoral votes to the candidate who wins the national popular vote. As of today, there are 17 NPVIC member states. 

Proposals like the NPVIC attempt to fix the problems that the Electoral College holds, while simultaneously maintaining the Electoral College system. 

Statewide changes have also allowed states to have the liberty to decide the best way to allocate their votes. Nebraska and Maine have switched to a different form of allocation in which two votes are given to the statewide winner, while the rest are distributed based on who wins in each congressional district. This means electoral votes can be split between candidates. 

As a structure, the Electoral College undermines the principle of democracy that our country claims to hold dearly and to maintain it is impeding citizens’ constitutional right to have a say in the direction the country goes. The only way to fix it is to create significant Constitutional amendments to the Electoral College or to abolish it and allow the popular vote to determine the result of the election. 

Please note that these views and opinions do not reflect those of The New Political.