Senate Democrats are moving to try to abolish the Electoral College after their party suffered defeats up and down the ballot in November’s elections.
Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee released the S.J. Res. 121 on Dec. 12, which proposes a Constitutional amendment to do away with the Electoral College system altogether and replace it with a simple national popular vote system. Senate Democrats Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Dick Durbin of Illinois and Peter Welch of Vermont sponsored the resolution.
BREAKING: A group of Senate Democrats introduce bill to abolish the Electoral College, restoring democracy by allowing the direct election of presidents through popular vote alone.
— Senate Judiciary Committee (@JudiciaryDems) December 16, 2024
“In an election, the person who gets the most votes should win. It’s that simple,” Schatz said in a statement about the new bill. “No one’s vote should count for more based on where they live. The Electoral College is outdated and it’s undemocratic. It’s time to end it.”
Durbin described the Electoral College as an “18th century invention that disenfranchises millions of Americans” in his own statement on the legislation. Some Democrats have suggested for years that the Electoral College is a vestige of American racism that gives white, rural voters an unfair level of influence over electoral outcomes.
Prior to the 2024 election, the last time the Republican presidential candidate won the popular vote was former President George W. Bush in the 2004 cycle, and many Democrats sounded off against the Electoral College when President-elect Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016 despite losing the popular vote. Notably, Trump would have won the 2024 election with or without the Electoral College, as he earned approximately 2.3 million more votes around the country than Vice President Kamala Harris, according to The Associated Press.
Defenders of the Electoral College frequently tout it as an institution that protects the interests of voters in less populous states and prevents outright majoritarian rule. Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate in her failed 2024 campaign, made headlines in October when he said at a California fundraiser that the Electoral College “needs to go.”
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