New York’s Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul is joining calls from the Left to abolish the Electoral College.
On Tuesday, Gov. Hochul called for a constitutional amendment to scrap the Electoral College.
Hochul argues that it’s an outdated system that distorts the democratic process.
The governor made the remarks at the state Electoral College proceedings in Albany.
Hochul said she wants the country to shift to a direct popular vote for the presidency.
She claims the current system undermines the principle of equal representation by allowing some votes to carry more weight than others, according to The Hill.
“We, the people, forming a more perfect union, and I strongly believe that the people of New York state and the United States of America should and must have their votes count equally and that the popular vote should prevail,” Hochul said.
Hochul added that this method of electing presidents leads to scenarios where a candidate can lose the popular vote yet win the presidency.
“It’s time to amend the Constitution and relegate the institution of the Electoral College to the history books,” Hochul said.
“Unfairly, less populated states have outsized influence, and, in effect, the votes of their residents count more than the residents of a state like New York.”
The Electoral College was designed in part to prevent larger states from overwhelming smaller states in presidential elections.
This design was intentional, however.
It reflects the Founding Fathers’ efforts to balance the influence of different states within the federal system.
The origins of the Electoral College are rooted in the Great Compromise.
According to U.S. Constitution.net, the compromise aimed to balance the interests of large and small states by establishing a bicameral legislature: the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The Senate ensures equal representation for each state and the House varies by population.
This arrangement carries over to presidential elections.
During presidential elections, each state receives electors equal to its total Congressional delegation, bolstering the political weight of smaller states.
The Electoral College has been criticized for various reasons, including its potential to override the popular vote.
However, it was created to provide a buffer against the direct election of the president by the populace.
Under a national popular vote system, the presidential election would be dominated by larger states such as California and Texas.
Senate Democrats, reeling from widespread losses in the November elections, are pushing to abolish the Electoral College and replace it with a national popular vote system.
In response, Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Peter Welch (D-VT) introduced the Constitutional amendment S.J. Res. 121 to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“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.
Before the 2024 election, a Republican hadn’t secured the popular vote since President George W. Bush in 2004.
President Donald Trump would have clinched the 2024 presidency either way.
Trump outpaced Vice President Kamala Harris by roughly 2.3 million votes nationwide, according to The Associated Press.
