Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wants to “abolish the Electoral College” and select presidents with only the popular vote, she Tweeted.
The former first lady wrote in a message that “I believe we should abolish the Electoral College and select our president by the winner of the popular vote, same as every other office. But while it still exists, I was proud to cast my vote in New York for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”
This comes shortly after her former President Bill Clinton had cast their electoral votes in New York, followed by Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo and numerous New York mayors.
The electoral vote comes into question often around election time with many suggesting that it should be abolished. Those who disagree suggest eliminating the electoral college would allow big states like California and New York to sway almost every election without giving the smaller states an equal voice and vote.
The following was stated in 2008 with regards to people questioning why the electoral vote still exists:
As Alexander Hamilton writes in “The Federalist Papers,” the Constitution is designed to ensure “that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.” The point of the Electoral College is to preserve “the sense of the people,” while at the same time ensuring that a president is chosen “by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station, and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice.”
In modern practice, the Electoral College is mostly a formality. Most electors are loyal members of the party that has selected them, and in 26 states, plus Washington, D.C., electors are bound by laws or party pledges to vote in accord with the popular vote. Although an elector could, in principle, change his or her vote (and a few actually have over the years), doing so is rare.
Each state has a different number of electoral votes that go towards the electoral count for each candidate. The winning candidate must receive 270 electoral votes to secure the presidency.
Joe Biden currently has 306 to Donald Trump’s 232 and Biden will become the next president.
