CA. Barbara Boxer wants to abolish the Electoral College
Barbara Boxer wants to abolish the Electoral College
Nov. 15, 2016
Updated 10:50 a.m.
By JEFF HORSEMAN / STAFF WRITER
Before she leaves the U.S. Senate, Barbara Boxer wants to change the way presidents are elected.
The California Democrat announced Tuesday, Nov. 15 she would introduce a bill to abolish the Electoral College and determine the White House winner by popular vote. The legislation comes after Donald Trump won the presidency by gaining more electoral votes than Hillary Clinton, even though more people voted for her.
Under the Constitution, the winner of the electoral vote, not the popular vote, becomes president. There have been a handful of times in U.S. history in which the popular vote winner did not capture the Oval Office.
“This is the only office in the land where you can get more votes and still lose the presidency,” Boxer said in a news release. “The Electoral College is an outdated, undemocratic system that does not reflect our modern society, and it needs to change immediately.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.”
The release included quotes from Trump in which he criticized the Electoral College, including statements he made in an interview that aired Sunday on “60 Minutes.”
“You know, I'm not going to change my mind just because I won,” he said. “But I would rather see it where you went with simple votes. You know, you get 100 million votes and somebody else gets 90 million votes and you win.”
But this morning, Trump defended the Electoral College on Twitter. “The Electoral College is actually genius in that it brings all states, including the smaller ones, into play,” he tweeted. “Campaigning is much different!”
Boxer’s bill faces long odds of passage in a GOP-controlled Senate. Even if it passes, it would need three-fourths of the states to ratify it because it would amend the Constitution.
Boxer is retiring after more than 20 years as a senator. Her replacement will be fellow Democrat and California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who defeated Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Santa Ana, earlier this month.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/e...ara-wants.html