Dump the Electoral College

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Photo Credit: ABC News

The election that was held on November 8, 2016, was one of the most important elections of my lifetime and progressives did win the White House by over 2 million votes, but something stands in the way.

That thing is the Electoral College. Because of the geographical distribution of the votes candidate Donald Trump won the majority of the state. Therefore he has more votes of the electors in the Electoral College. Thus, the Electoral College is standing in the way of the majority of Americans who voted for a smart, progressive president.

So, is it time to throw out the Electoral College? I think it is. The idea behind the Electoral College was to let voters have a say in voting for president and choosing members of the Electoral College. However, if the majority of the electorate choose someone for president who was not qualified to be president, the Electoral College could override their support and elect someone who is more suited for the position (Huffington Post).

The Electoral College votes for president on December 19. Thus there is time to take action.

kljoliIt is projected that Trump will get 290 votes and Clinton 232, with Michigan’s votes not yet allocated because the vote is still being counted and it’s still too close to call.

To prevent Trump from becoming president with the system that we have right now, we need at least 40 electors to use independent judgment and vote with the popular vote by casting their vote for Hillary Clinton.

Currently, there is no constitutional provision or federal law that requires the electors to vote for the candidate who won the majority in their state (Huffington Post). Thus, would allow electors to think for themselves and make a decision on who they think would make a better president and not vote against what a majority of the voters voted for.

Furthermore, in states like Texas where Hillary won several congressional districts, the electors in those districts could perhaps feel comfortable voting for her since their congressional districts went for Hillary as well as the popular national vote.

Take action to create change and stop Donald Trump from becoming president!
Sign this petition: Make Hillary Clinton President on December 19

Moving forward, we must abolish the Electoral College. We cannot afford to allow the Electoral College to put us in this position again.

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), introduced a bill to do just that. It is a constitutional amendment that would abolish the Electoral College and let the popular vote decide our presidential election (Vox).

I must make this point again. Candidate Donald Trump has 61,125,956 votes or 47.0% of the popular vote and 290 Electoral votes while candidate Hillary Clinton has 62,391,335 popular vote or 48.0% and 232 Electoral votes. She also won California by 3 million votes however that does matter because Trump won three states in the rust belt by 107,000 votes. (New York Times)

Take action to dump the Electoral College!
Sign the petition: Abolish the Electoral College