November 27, 2019,
Now that the 2020 presidential election is in full swing, the Democratic candidates are carefully positioning themselves on a variety of partisan issues. Immigration, healthcare, and the economy are among the most pressing issues that will come to define the winners in the coming months—but they aren’t the only ones. Perhaps the candidates should direct more focus toward the issue that may actually determine the next president: the Electoral College.
The number 2,864,974 was printed en masse following the 2016 presidential election, on everything from T-shirts to bumper stickers. This number signified more than the number of popular votes Hillary Clinton won by; it was a subtle reminder of a fragile democracy and an electoral system that dismissed the voices of millions.
While the election further exposed the unfairness of the American electoral system, it is not unique. The first instance goes back to 1824 when Andrew Jackson received 44,804 more popular votes than John Quincy Adams, but was defeated. More recently, in the 2000 presidential election, while Al Gore received 547,398 more popular votes than George W. Bush, he lost the election. In 2020, history might just repeat itself—and by no coincidence. This is the result of the inherent imbalance of aggregate votes that the Electoral College perpetuates. High concentrations of white-working class in key electoral states, voter suppression, and a disproportionate effect on Democratic candidates, increase the likelihood of future discrepancies between the popular vote and the Electoral College.
While the Electoral College has yet to make its way to the forefront of the presidential debates or network polling, it’s certainly gaining traction in the current election cycle. A Gallup poll, in May of 2019, found that nearly 55% of Americans support an electoral system based on popular vote instead of the Electoral College. The same belief is echoed by 2020 presidential campaigns, as twelve current and former Democratic candidates have openly supported a shift to the popular vote, and another five say they are open to the discussion.
While some Democratic presidential candidates, such as Vice President Joe Biden, have not explicitly given their positions on the Electoral College, a broad agreement remains. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is an outspoken advocate for abolishing the Electoral College, telling the Washington Post, “Presidential elections cannot be fought out in just a dozen ‘battleground’ states.” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, in a CNN townhall in Mississippi, explained, “My view is that 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.” South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, when asked his view on the Electoral College in an NBC interview, said simply, “It’s undemocratic.” The idea is clear: Most American voters and most presidential candidates agree that the Electoral College should be abolished. However, this idea isn’t without partisan divide.
The May Gallup poll found that while 84% of Democrats support changing the electoral system to determine the president based on popular vote, only 24% of Republicans support the same. In fact, President Donald Trump has capitalized on this division throughout his reelection campaign. Before his presidency, he supported the abolition of the Electoral College, suggesting that the vote of every American was more important to democracy than a fallible institution. However, after assuming the presidency, he reversed his previous decision, denouncing the credibility of the popular vote. While President Trump’s position is wrought with indecision, his message is clear: it’s not the vote of the people that counts, it’s winning the presidency. What was once a bipartisan issue has become a clear division between Democrats and Republicans, but it doesn’t need to be. All Americans deserve a democratic system that ensures every vote counts, and all Americans deserve a solution to the problem that has altered history before it happens again.