He isn’t wrong but saying it now when you need the votes of the people in the 7 most empowered states by the Electoral College is probably awful timing.
Boxofbikeparts on
How about they make it a priority once they are in office to abolish the EC, and also gerrymandering?
Pitiful-Opposite3714 on
I hope so too but it’s not going to be easy.
On the Missouri ballot:
Constitutional Amendment 7
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to: Make the Constitution consistent with state law by only allowing citizens of
the United States to vote; Prohibit the ranking of candidates by limiting voters to a single vote per candidate or issue; and
Require the plurality winner of a political party primary to be the single candidate at a general election? State and local
governmental entities estimate no costs or savings.
chillywanton on
The easiest way to bring this about is to vote blue down the ticket. Then we control the majority in Congress to get a change passed.
BlotchComics on
Republicans: “If there were no electoral college, we’d just change the places we campaign and would still win elections.”
“Okay, let’s get rid of the electoral college.”
Republicans: “Fuck that!”
TheDeepStateDirector on
The President should be directly elected by the people by popular vote.
Laceyberts on
I think abolishing the Electoral College makes sense; it’s frustrating how a few swing states can decide the whole election when most Americans want their votes to truly count.
Every daylight savings time “We need to get rid of daylight savings time!”
Every presidential election cycle
“We need to get rid of the electoral college!”
Every…..damn….time
shwilliams4 on
The electoral college is set at the number of representatives and senators I think. If you only allow one rep to have 500k citizens, I think the EC can work.
Bored_guy_in_dc on
Lets get that constitutional amendment going! Oh, wait, it will never pass. That’s right.
deranged_goats on
Let’s replace it with ranked choice voting and an actual multi-party democracy. Not this two party system we have now
Tonya3gherty on
I think Walz is onto something—abolishing the Electoral College could make our elections fairer and reflect the true will of the people. It’s time to move beyond outdated systems that don’t serve everyone equally.
zuggles on
agree
Erogenous_Nectarine on
With a popular vote, the only way republicans win is by adopting popular ideas.
Divine_Cherryberry on
While I agree
A more realistic goal is to overturn The Reapportionment Act of 1929 and uncap the House. Unlike abolishing the EC, which would require a constitutional amendment, overturning that would only require a congressional majority.
Not perfect as lower populous states would still have somewhat of a heftier vote in the EC (due to two Electoral Votes coming from Senatorial seats).. but it would go a long way in balancing out that disparity.
Also comes with the benefit of being the “original intent of the founders” that the GOP likes to tout louder than any other. So they should be all for that.
EmmaLouLove on
I like Walz more every time I hear him speak.
Dogzirra on
Out of a population of 330 million, only 15 million are needed to determine who will be president. One voter out of 22 people will be that person.
160 Million people voted in 2020, in one of the highest election turnouts, ever.
15 million can determine who will be president. That is about one in ten voters.
This is what the electoral college can do, and why it is such a juicy target for gerrymandering and other corruptions to undermine democracy.
If the constitution is to unite, it must be commonly seen as being fair. It increasingly is not fair. The parts of the constitution that has been twisted to be unfair needs to be changed, if we are to continue as a beacon of democracy.
Walz is correct, we can do better.
Edit add: The 15 million was calculated from the total votes in the 26 least populous states and DC, divided that by 2, and rounded up to give a plurality in each state. (and DC).
Evorgleb on
Republicans will be much more open to getting rid of the Electoral College once Texas flips to blue.
bubbabubba3 on
Isn’t it fun to say this every 4 years?
jpiro on
Well, I like him even better now. The electoral college seemed dumb as hell even when I learned about it in middle/high school in the late 80’s. As technology has made counting individual votes and tabulating them nationally simpler and simpler every year, it just gets dumber.
Kill the EC.
Expand the house.
Make DC a state.
LFG
pleachchapel on
It was created explicitly to preserve the institution of slavery & should have been abolished at the end of the civil war. A ton of issues we now face are because the North was too nice after kicking the South’s ass.
userisundefined on
He’s right and he should say it.
stapango on
Pretty unfortunate that this has turned into yet another partisan issue- and it’s purely because Republicans are convinced their candidates can’t win under a fair system that doesn’t disenfranchise millions of Americans.
ludixst on
The Electoral College is DEI for red states.
bassocontinubow on
I like Walz, and will be voting for Harris, but I do not think these are issues he should be opining on right now, politically speaking. On one hand, I 100% agree with him on this issue, and am happy he’s at least being candid and honest. On the other hand, I can see a world where this type of discussion, at this moment in time, could scare some fence voters away. Plus, republicans would NEVER agree to it, as it currently benefits them and is a disadvantage (imo) for democrats. Idk
Ut_Prosim on
I get the argument that we don’t want rural votes drowned out by urban. But… I’ve never heard a good explanation for why rural voters should be the only minority to get special considerations.
Couldn’t you just as easily argue:
> We don’t want big cities to drown out the vote of rural folks, their needs aren’t the same.
> We don’t want white folk to drown out the vote of PoC, their needs aren’t the same.
> We don’t want straight folk to drown out the vote of the LGBT, their needs aren’t the same.
> We don’t want Chrisrians to drown out the vote of atheists, their needs aren’t the same.
> We don’t want civilians to drown out the vote of veterans, their needs aren’t the same.
> We don’t want the elderly to drown out the vote of the youth, their needs aren’t the same.
> We don’t want the able-bodied to drown out the vote of disabled folk, their needs aren’t the same.
Seems like each of these are equally good arguments, and each group has legitimate concerns about a tyrant of the majority.
**But**, only one actually gets a structural advantage in our democracy.
ACrask on
My stress level during this election year would go from 100 to 0 if it was simply the popular vote, which it should friggin’ be. All the elctoral college is is a way for someone the majority of the country doesn’t want to still have a chance of winning.
garrettj100 on
If you have a 2/3 majority to get a constitutional amendment through congress, why would you bother with the electoral college?
Enshrine abortion and end that argument once and for all. Then put some sane language around the right to bear arms. Then **don’t** leave interpreting those amendments to five lunatic fringe lifetime-appointed morons and impeach Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh.
That’s easily a hundred days.
FantasticEmu on
Also abolish daylight savings!
ArtOfBBQ on
Wow I agtee with this delusional echo chamber sub anout something. And ad an added bonus, this is one of the few things you can expect politicians to actually follow up on
AlexKingstonsGigolo on
The assertion is irrelevant for two reasons:
1. It’s the system we have right now and the one under which the election will be held.
2. You cannot get rid of it due to structural incentives built into the American system of government; even the routinely cited “compact” route requires Congressional approval and there are enough states to block that approval in the Senate.
36 Comments
so fucking based
It shouldn’t have existed in the first place.
No question.
He isn’t wrong but saying it now when you need the votes of the people in the 7 most empowered states by the Electoral College is probably awful timing.
How about they make it a priority once they are in office to abolish the EC, and also gerrymandering?
I hope so too but it’s not going to be easy.
On the Missouri ballot:
Constitutional Amendment 7
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to: Make the Constitution consistent with state law by only allowing citizens of
the United States to vote; Prohibit the ranking of candidates by limiting voters to a single vote per candidate or issue; and
Require the plurality winner of a political party primary to be the single candidate at a general election? State and local
governmental entities estimate no costs or savings.
The easiest way to bring this about is to vote blue down the ticket. Then we control the majority in Congress to get a change passed.
Republicans: “If there were no electoral college, we’d just change the places we campaign and would still win elections.”
“Okay, let’s get rid of the electoral college.”
Republicans: “Fuck that!”
The President should be directly elected by the people by popular vote.
I think abolishing the Electoral College makes sense; it’s frustrating how a few swing states can decide the whole election when most Americans want their votes to truly count.
Yes, it does. Let’s have real democracy.
I came across this 12 year old [VIDEO](https://youtu.be/7wC42HgLA4k?si=xVotZmLC0zqahIWf) that effectively debunks all the arguments for the Electoral College. It absolutely needs to go.
Every daylight savings time “We need to get rid of daylight savings time!”
Every presidential election cycle
“We need to get rid of the electoral college!”
Every…..damn….time
The electoral college is set at the number of representatives and senators I think. If you only allow one rep to have 500k citizens, I think the EC can work.
Lets get that constitutional amendment going! Oh, wait, it will never pass. That’s right.
Let’s replace it with ranked choice voting and an actual multi-party democracy. Not this two party system we have now
I think Walz is onto something—abolishing the Electoral College could make our elections fairer and reflect the true will of the people. It’s time to move beyond outdated systems that don’t serve everyone equally.
agree
With a popular vote, the only way republicans win is by adopting popular ideas.
While I agree
A more realistic goal is to overturn The Reapportionment Act of 1929 and uncap the House. Unlike abolishing the EC, which would require a constitutional amendment, overturning that would only require a congressional majority.
Not perfect as lower populous states would still have somewhat of a heftier vote in the EC (due to two Electoral Votes coming from Senatorial seats).. but it would go a long way in balancing out that disparity.
Also comes with the benefit of being the “original intent of the founders” that the GOP likes to tout louder than any other. So they should be all for that.
I like Walz more every time I hear him speak.
Out of a population of 330 million, only 15 million are needed to determine who will be president. One voter out of 22 people will be that person.
160 Million people voted in 2020, in one of the highest election turnouts, ever.
15 million can determine who will be president. That is about one in ten voters.
This is what the electoral college can do, and why it is such a juicy target for gerrymandering and other corruptions to undermine democracy.
If the constitution is to unite, it must be commonly seen as being fair. It increasingly is not fair. The parts of the constitution that has been twisted to be unfair needs to be changed, if we are to continue as a beacon of democracy.
Walz is correct, we can do better.
Edit add: The 15 million was calculated from the total votes in the 26 least populous states and DC, divided that by 2, and rounded up to give a plurality in each state. (and DC).
Republicans will be much more open to getting rid of the Electoral College once Texas flips to blue.
Isn’t it fun to say this every 4 years?
Well, I like him even better now. The electoral college seemed dumb as hell even when I learned about it in middle/high school in the late 80’s. As technology has made counting individual votes and tabulating them nationally simpler and simpler every year, it just gets dumber.
Kill the EC.
Expand the house.
Make DC a state.
LFG
It was created explicitly to preserve the institution of slavery & should have been abolished at the end of the civil war. A ton of issues we now face are because the North was too nice after kicking the South’s ass.
He’s right and he should say it.
Pretty unfortunate that this has turned into yet another partisan issue- and it’s purely because Republicans are convinced their candidates can’t win under a fair system that doesn’t disenfranchise millions of Americans.
The Electoral College is DEI for red states.
I like Walz, and will be voting for Harris, but I do not think these are issues he should be opining on right now, politically speaking. On one hand, I 100% agree with him on this issue, and am happy he’s at least being candid and honest. On the other hand, I can see a world where this type of discussion, at this moment in time, could scare some fence voters away. Plus, republicans would NEVER agree to it, as it currently benefits them and is a disadvantage (imo) for democrats. Idk
I get the argument that we don’t want rural votes drowned out by urban. But… I’ve never heard a good explanation for why rural voters should be the only minority to get special considerations.
Couldn’t you just as easily argue:
> We don’t want big cities to drown out the vote of rural folks, their needs aren’t the same.
> We don’t want white folk to drown out the vote of PoC, their needs aren’t the same.
> We don’t want straight folk to drown out the vote of the LGBT, their needs aren’t the same.
> We don’t want Chrisrians to drown out the vote of atheists, their needs aren’t the same.
> We don’t want civilians to drown out the vote of veterans, their needs aren’t the same.
> We don’t want the elderly to drown out the vote of the youth, their needs aren’t the same.
> We don’t want the able-bodied to drown out the vote of disabled folk, their needs aren’t the same.
Seems like each of these are equally good arguments, and each group has legitimate concerns about a tyrant of the majority.
**But**, only one actually gets a structural advantage in our democracy.
My stress level during this election year would go from 100 to 0 if it was simply the popular vote, which it should friggin’ be. All the elctoral college is is a way for someone the majority of the country doesn’t want to still have a chance of winning.
If you have a 2/3 majority to get a constitutional amendment through congress, why would you bother with the electoral college?
Enshrine abortion and end that argument once and for all. Then put some sane language around the right to bear arms. Then **don’t** leave interpreting those amendments to five lunatic fringe lifetime-appointed morons and impeach Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh.
That’s easily a hundred days.
Also abolish daylight savings!
Wow I agtee with this delusional echo chamber sub anout something. And ad an added bonus, this is one of the few things you can expect politicians to actually follow up on
The assertion is irrelevant for two reasons:
1. It’s the system we have right now and the one under which the election will be held.
2. You cannot get rid of it due to structural incentives built into the American system of government; even the routinely cited “compact” route requires Congressional approval and there are enough states to block that approval in the Senate.
Don’t go chasing waterfalls.