Democratic Push to Bypass Electoral College Stopped in its Tracks by Republicans
Democrats efforts have hit a large GOP wall after trying to subvert constitution
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Many Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, have been pushing for the Electoral College to be scrapped to change presidential elections to contests decided by the national popular vote.
But their efforts have hit a large GOP wall, and they will now have to defeat presdient Donald Trump in the Electoral College they lost in 2016.
The Electoral College puts the power to elect presidents in the hands of individual states.
But the bipartisan National Popular Vote interstate compact looks to undermine the constitutional shield surrounding the electoral college.
The Democratic amendment would have to convince states, regardless of which candidate wins their state, to throw their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote.
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Supporters of compact believe this won't require amending the Constitution, but that would likely be challenged in courts.
The effort also ran into massive resistance from Republicans, who see the Electoral College as a viable path to the White House.
The Republican Party’s recognition for the Electoral College has grown since Trump was elected in 2016.
Last year, Hillary Clinton wrote in a Trump-bashing op-ed for the Atlantic:
"You won’t be surprised to hear that I passionately believe it’s time to abolish the Electoral College."
Clinton along with other liberal activists are demanding the Electoral College be abolished.
“That man has no chance of winning the popular vote,” Democratic operative Rodell Mollineau said.
The National Popular Vote interstate compact is seemingly just another way to skirt around the barrier erected by the Constitution.
According to The Washington Examiner: Most states deliver their Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote within their borders, although a few designate per congressional district.
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Under the compact, states that agree to the changes would only be bound to them once enough states pass similar laws such that between them, their combined electoral votes equal 270, the number required to win the presidency.
According to the group spearheading this effort, 12 states and Washington, D.C., which has three electoral votes, have joined the compact.
All 13 of those jurisdictions tend to vote Democrat for president, meaning the fresh push for popular vote elections from the Democratic White House contenders is unlikely to get more support for reforming how the Electoral College operates.
That would require a burst of support in red territory, unlikely at a time when many Republicans are resigned to Trump, and possibly future GOP nominees, losing the popular vote.
But even if the political atmosphere changed and more states joined the compact, Lara Brown, a political scientist at George Washington University who has written extensively about the Electoral College, foresees an additional sticking point.
"Beyond the questionable constitutionality of this inter-state but outside of Congress compact, this idea fails to recognize the possibility that a person’s vote could be completely invalidated if the national popular vote goes in the opposite direction the majority in their state," Brown said.
This compact moves the representation even further away from a person’s vote."
