Outgoing Democratic senator: Eliminate the Electoral College
Outgoing Sen. Barbara Boxer of California planned to introduce a bill Tuesday that would eliminate the Electoral College, following Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's electoral loss to President-elect Donald Trump but near-certain victory in the popular vote.
The legislation would amend the Constitution, requiring ratification by three-fourths of the states within seven years after passing through Congress to be enacted.
"In my lifetime, I have seen two elections where the winner of the general election did not win the popular vote," she said in a statement, noting Democrat Al Gore's electoral loss in 2000. "When all the ballots are counted, Hillary Clinton will have won the popular vote by a margin that could exceed 2 million votes, and she is on track to have received more votes than any other presidential candidate in history except Barack Obama."
"This is the only office in the land where you can get more votes and still lose the presidency," she continued. "The Electoral College is an outdated, undemocratic system that does not reflect our modern society, and it needs to change immediately. Every American should be guaranteed that their vote counts."
As of Tuesday, Clinton led Trump by roughly 900,000 votes, with some votes in Democratic strongholds still outstanding. Before Gore, there were only three times in which a presidential nominee lost while winning the popular vote. Those were Grover Cleveland in 1888, Samuel Tilden in 1876, and Andrew Jackson in 1824.
With Michigan yet to be called for either candidate, Trump leads Clinton by 290 to 232 in the Electoral College.
While he praised the Electoral College after winning, saying it puts more states into play, he tweeted in 2012 after Republican nominee Mitt Romney's loss that the system was a "disaster for democracy."
In her statement, Boxer said she agreed with that sentiment.
"I couldn't agree more," the California Democrat wrote. "One person, one vote!"
However, Trump on Twitter Tuesday wrote that he would've campaigned differently had the Electoral College not been the determining factor in the election.
"If the election were based on total popular vote I would have campaigned in N.Y. Florida and California and won even bigger and more easily," he wrote, adding in a subsequent tweet, "The Electoral College is actually genius in that it brings all states, including the smaller ones, into play. Campaigning is much different!"