Senate Democrats have proposed a bill to abolish the Electoral College in their latest bid to upend the Constitution.
The bill, introduced just over a month after Donald Trump won the presidential election, was proposed by three progressive Senators, namely Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Dick Durbin of Illinois and Peter Welch of Vermont.
The trio said removing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote would “restore democracy,” with Sen. Schatz claiming the current system is “outdated and undemocratic.” Durbin, meanwhile, said the bill echoed a pre-2000 to abolish the Electoral College, adding that it was “time to retire this 18th century invention.” The United States was also an “18th century invention,” mind you.
Sen. Welch also waded in. He said:
“Our democracy is at its strongest when everyone’s voice is heard – and right now our elections aren’t as representative as they should be because of the outdated and flawed Electoral College.”
The popular vote has largely favored Democrats in recent years. Prior to Trump’s victory in November, George W. Bush was the only Republican in the 21st century to win the popular vote (in 2004).
Trump joined the list of GOP popular vote winners last month, with the Republican beating his Democrat rival by 2.3 million votes. Even under a popular vote system, which would require a constitutional amendment to introduce, Trump obviously would still have won the election.
A post on X by the Senate Judiciary Committee about the bill was largely ridiculed by social media commenters.
Others questioned whether “restoring democracy” was the main driver of the bill.
