Bernie Sanders: ‘Abolish the Electoral College’

Presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) made another call to abolish the Electoral College in a tweet Friday afternoon to his 9.4 million Twitter followers.

Sanders took to Twitter Friday afternoon and wrote “Abolish the Electoral College” in response to an NBC News analysis that theorized that President Trump could win the presidential election in 2020 and lose the popular vote by five million:

NBC’s analysis points to the population booms in California and Texas. Both states, NBC argues, are at the “heart of Democrats’ geography problem.”

NBC News adds:

Both behemoths are growing more diverse at a much faster rate than the nation — owing to booming Asian and Latino populations — and are trending toward Democrats. Yet neither blue California nor red Texas would play a pivotal role in a close 2020 election, potentially rendering millions of additional Democratic votes useless.

A presidential candidate must reach 270 Electoral College votes to win. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 with 306 Electoral College votes to Clinton’s 232. Following the election results, Clinton’s supporters argued for the abolishment of the Electoral College and pointed to the popular vote, which Clinton “won” by nearly 2.9 million voters. Proponents of the Electoral College system, however, note that the Founding Fathers set up the Electoral College system as a safeguard against mob rule, preventing densely populated areas – particularly on the coasts – from determining the results of presidential elections. The Electoral College essentially gives communities in less populous states a fair, proportional voice in determining the direction of the country. Trump won in 2016, in part, for winning over voters in Rust Belt states, including Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

This is not the first time Sanders has voiced support for abolishing the current system.

During an appearance at a town hall hosted by League of United Latin American Citizens last week, Sanders expressed support for abolishing the Electoral College.

“It is hard to defend a system in which we have a president who lost the popular vote by 3 million votes, so the answer is yes,” Sanders said.

Other 2020 candidates, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Beto O’Rourke (D), and Pete Buttigieg (D), have expressed support for abolishing the Electoral College as well.