Warren calls for the elimination of the electoral college

Senator Elizabeth Warren on Monday called for the abolition of the Electoral College as part of an effort to extend the franchise, making it one of the first Democrats to stand for election. presidency in 2020 to propose such a radical change in the election of US presidents.

In a CNN city hall in Jackson, Mississippi, Warren (D-Mass.) Noted that deep red states like Mississippi and deep blue states like California or Massachusetts are rarely Campaign stops for presidential candidates in the general election due to a primary interest in the swing. States with the most votes of the constituency.

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"We have to make sure every vote counts. And you know, I want to push that here in Mississippi. Because I think it's an important point, "she said. "I believe that every vote counts. And the way we can get there is that we can have a national vote and that means getting rid of the constituency. "

Proposals to eliminate the electoral college gained momentum in the years following President Donald Trump's defeat of Hillary Clinton in 2016, when Clinton defeated Trump in the popular vote with nearly three million votes, but had lost the electoral college handle key states.

Trump's victory has given way to a national popular vote, but the inclusion of the Electoral College in the Constitution has sparked a renewed interest in workarounds, such as the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, in which the Member States promise the votes of the electoral college of their state to the winner of the national popular vote.

The pact will only come into effect if enough states sign up to pledge the 270 electoral votes needed to win a presidential election. With the addition of Colorado last week, states with a combined total of 181 electoral votes pledged to abide by the pact.

Critics of a national popular vote argue that the electoral college ensures that presidential candidates do not focus on large population centers such as the east and west coasts, where voters distort democracy.

Part of the criticism is that the Democratic presidential candidate won the popular vote in four of the last five general elections, but lost the presidency in two of those elections.

But Warren introduced his proposal as a way to extend the right to vote, as well as a "constitutional amendment" that protects the voting rights of every US citizen and helps ensure that the vote is account". She called for the repeal of laws that result in the suppression of voters across the country. .

"I think everyone should come and ask for your vote," she told the crowd, with thunderous applause.