Should the electoral college be abolished?

Stanford sociology professor Douglas McAdam says the electoral college, which determined this election, is an outdated system.


About This Source - CNN

The video item below is a piece of English language content from CNN. CNN is an American news-based pay television channel owned by CNN Worldwide, a unit of the WarnerMedia News & Sports division of AT&T-owned WarnerMedia. CNN was founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner as a 24-hour cable news channel.

Recent from CNN:

Ces 2024: lenovo's thinkbook plus gen 5 hybrid 1

CES 2024: Lenovo’s ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid

Teacher threatened to behead and slit student’s throat. Hear from her parents

Are those most opposed to Trump aiding his election?

In This Story: Electoral College

The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of electing the president and vice president. Each state appoints electors equal in number to its congressional delegation. Federal office holders cannot be electors.

Of the current 538 electors, an absolute majority of 270 or more electoral votes is required to elect the president and vice president. If no candidate achieves an absolute majority there, a contingent election is held by the United States House of Representatives to elect the president, and by the United States Senate to elect the vice president.

The appropriateness of the Electoral College system is a matter of ongoing debate. Supporters argue that it is a fundamental component of American federalism by preserving the Constitutional role of the states in presidential elections. Candidates must appeal to a broad and diverse set of states rather than focusing only on the few U.S. cities with the highest population densities.

Critics argue that the Electoral College system is less democratic than a direct popular vote and that the College violates the democratic principle of “one person, one vote.” Thus, a president may be elected who did not win the national popular vote, as occurred in 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016.

2 Recent Items: Electoral College

New footage shows January 6 rioters yelling at GOP lawmakers

Leslie Jones Thought the Electoral College Was Where Politicians Went to School

Leave a Comment

We don't require your email address, or your name, for anyone to leave a comment. If you do add an email address, you may be notified if there are replies to your comment - we won't use it for any other purpose. Please make respectful comments, which add value, and avoid personal attacks on others. Links are not allowed in comments - 99% of spam comments, attempt to post links. Please describe where people may find additional information - for example "visit the UN website" or "search Google for..." rather than posting a link. Comments failing to adhere to these guidelines will not be published.