SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
A participant holding a sign at a march celebrating the defeat of President Donald Trump in Manhattan on November 7, 2020. (Photo: Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)
'Far Past Time' to Abolish the Electoral College, Progressives Say as Colorado Approves National Popular Vote Compact
"Our nation spent a stressful four days wondering who our next president would be, despite the clear fact that Joe Biden won the popular vote by millions."
Nov 08, 2020
With President-elect Joe Biden on track as of Monday to win the national popular vote by a historic margin--more than eight million votes, according to one estimate--progressives are renewing their longstanding demand that the antiquated and undemocratic Electoral College be abolished in favor of a system that adheres to the principle of "one person, one vote."
"It's far past time that we abolish this system and affirm that every single vote should matter equally when electing our president."
--Sean Eldridge, Stand Up America
In a statement Monday, advocacy group Stand Up America applauded Coloradans for passing a ballot measure that approves the state legislature's 2019 decision to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an initiative that--if adopted by enough states--would render the Electoral College obsolete.
Opponents of the popular vote effort in Colorado gathered the required number of signatures earlier this year to force a referendum on whether the legislature's move would be upheld or repealed; the state's voters opted to approve the compact last week by a margin of 52% to 48%.
"For far too long, the United States has failed to live up the ideal that one person equals one vote because of arcane institutions like the Electoral College," said Sean Eldridge, founder and president of Stand Up America. "Our nation spent a stressful four days wondering who our next president would be, despite the clear fact that Joe Biden won the popular vote by millions--and with good reason. In the last 20 years, two out of three U.S. presidents were elected in spite of losing the national popular vote."
"It's far past time that we abolish this system and affirm that every single vote should matter equally when electing our president," Eldridge continued. "In passing Proposition 113, Colorado voters helped the entire country move closer to ensuring that every vote counts equally in every state and every election."
With Colorado's passage of Prop 113, the popular vote compact has been approved by states with a combined total of 196 electoral votes. As Vox's Ian Millhiser explained last week, "The core insight of the National Popular Vote Compact is that, if a bloc of states that controls 270 electoral votes all agree to assign their electors to whoever wins the national popular vote, rather than the candidate who wins their state, then whoever wins the national popular vote will become president in every election."
\u201cThe states who have already agreed to this: CA, IL, NY, CO, CT, MD, MA, NJ, NM, OR, WA, DE, HI, RI, VT, and DC. \ud83e\udd1d\u201d— Mabel Hsu (@Mabel Hsu) 1604685970
In a tweet on Sunday, just 24 hours after media outlets declared Biden the winner of the presidential election, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) noted that "the Democratic nominee for president has now won the popular vote in seven out of the last eight elections."
At the time the election was called for Biden on Saturday, the former vice president led incumbent President Donald Trump by more than four million votes--significantly more than Hillary Clinton's 2.8 million popular-vote margin in 2016.
"One person, one vote. Democracy must rule," Sanders wrote. "Yes. We should abolish the Electoral College."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
With President-elect Joe Biden on track as of Monday to win the national popular vote by a historic margin--more than eight million votes, according to one estimate--progressives are renewing their longstanding demand that the antiquated and undemocratic Electoral College be abolished in favor of a system that adheres to the principle of "one person, one vote."
"It's far past time that we abolish this system and affirm that every single vote should matter equally when electing our president."
--Sean Eldridge, Stand Up America
In a statement Monday, advocacy group Stand Up America applauded Coloradans for passing a ballot measure that approves the state legislature's 2019 decision to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an initiative that--if adopted by enough states--would render the Electoral College obsolete.
Opponents of the popular vote effort in Colorado gathered the required number of signatures earlier this year to force a referendum on whether the legislature's move would be upheld or repealed; the state's voters opted to approve the compact last week by a margin of 52% to 48%.
"For far too long, the United States has failed to live up the ideal that one person equals one vote because of arcane institutions like the Electoral College," said Sean Eldridge, founder and president of Stand Up America. "Our nation spent a stressful four days wondering who our next president would be, despite the clear fact that Joe Biden won the popular vote by millions--and with good reason. In the last 20 years, two out of three U.S. presidents were elected in spite of losing the national popular vote."
"It's far past time that we abolish this system and affirm that every single vote should matter equally when electing our president," Eldridge continued. "In passing Proposition 113, Colorado voters helped the entire country move closer to ensuring that every vote counts equally in every state and every election."
With Colorado's passage of Prop 113, the popular vote compact has been approved by states with a combined total of 196 electoral votes. As Vox's Ian Millhiser explained last week, "The core insight of the National Popular Vote Compact is that, if a bloc of states that controls 270 electoral votes all agree to assign their electors to whoever wins the national popular vote, rather than the candidate who wins their state, then whoever wins the national popular vote will become president in every election."
\u201cThe states who have already agreed to this: CA, IL, NY, CO, CT, MD, MA, NJ, NM, OR, WA, DE, HI, RI, VT, and DC. \ud83e\udd1d\u201d— Mabel Hsu (@Mabel Hsu) 1604685970
In a tweet on Sunday, just 24 hours after media outlets declared Biden the winner of the presidential election, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) noted that "the Democratic nominee for president has now won the popular vote in seven out of the last eight elections."
At the time the election was called for Biden on Saturday, the former vice president led incumbent President Donald Trump by more than four million votes--significantly more than Hillary Clinton's 2.8 million popular-vote margin in 2016.
"One person, one vote. Democracy must rule," Sanders wrote. "Yes. We should abolish the Electoral College."
With President-elect Joe Biden on track as of Monday to win the national popular vote by a historic margin--more than eight million votes, according to one estimate--progressives are renewing their longstanding demand that the antiquated and undemocratic Electoral College be abolished in favor of a system that adheres to the principle of "one person, one vote."
"It's far past time that we abolish this system and affirm that every single vote should matter equally when electing our president."
--Sean Eldridge, Stand Up America
In a statement Monday, advocacy group Stand Up America applauded Coloradans for passing a ballot measure that approves the state legislature's 2019 decision to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an initiative that--if adopted by enough states--would render the Electoral College obsolete.
Opponents of the popular vote effort in Colorado gathered the required number of signatures earlier this year to force a referendum on whether the legislature's move would be upheld or repealed; the state's voters opted to approve the compact last week by a margin of 52% to 48%.
"For far too long, the United States has failed to live up the ideal that one person equals one vote because of arcane institutions like the Electoral College," said Sean Eldridge, founder and president of Stand Up America. "Our nation spent a stressful four days wondering who our next president would be, despite the clear fact that Joe Biden won the popular vote by millions--and with good reason. In the last 20 years, two out of three U.S. presidents were elected in spite of losing the national popular vote."
"It's far past time that we abolish this system and affirm that every single vote should matter equally when electing our president," Eldridge continued. "In passing Proposition 113, Colorado voters helped the entire country move closer to ensuring that every vote counts equally in every state and every election."
With Colorado's passage of Prop 113, the popular vote compact has been approved by states with a combined total of 196 electoral votes. As Vox's Ian Millhiser explained last week, "The core insight of the National Popular Vote Compact is that, if a bloc of states that controls 270 electoral votes all agree to assign their electors to whoever wins the national popular vote, rather than the candidate who wins their state, then whoever wins the national popular vote will become president in every election."
\u201cThe states who have already agreed to this: CA, IL, NY, CO, CT, MD, MA, NJ, NM, OR, WA, DE, HI, RI, VT, and DC. \ud83e\udd1d\u201d— Mabel Hsu (@Mabel Hsu) 1604685970
In a tweet on Sunday, just 24 hours after media outlets declared Biden the winner of the presidential election, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) noted that "the Democratic nominee for president has now won the popular vote in seven out of the last eight elections."
At the time the election was called for Biden on Saturday, the former vice president led incumbent President Donald Trump by more than four million votes--significantly more than Hillary Clinton's 2.8 million popular-vote margin in 2016.
"One person, one vote. Democracy must rule," Sanders wrote. "Yes. We should abolish the Electoral College."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.