Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii along with several colleagues intend to unveil a constitutional amendment this week that would end the Electoral College. Co-sponsoring the bill will be Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Dianne Feinstein of California, and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, reports the Huffington Post.
The idea of abolishing the Electoral College has gained steam with Democrats after the last two Republican presidents, George W. Bush and Donald Trump, took office despite losing the popular vote. Notably, Trump was the biggest popular vote loser of all time, with Hillary Clinton outpacing him by nearly 2.9 million votes, or 2.1 percent. Bush, by comparison, lost to Al Gore by about 544,000 votes.
At this point, the effort is surely dead on arrival. It would require approval from two-thirds of the House and the Senate or a constitutional convention called by two-thirds of states legislatures. Either way, three-fourths of the states must ratify such an amendment. But the momentum also comes amid unprecedented support from Democratic presidential hopefuls and a hungry Democratic base. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced her support for the overhaul at a CNN town hall last month. “Every vote matters, and the way we can make that happen is that we can have national voting, and that means get rid of the Electoral College,” Warren said to applause from the crowd.
The concept has since become a rallying cry that enthuses the Democratic base. Expect to hear a lot more about about it in the coming election.