The Electoral College “has become a menace” to American democracy, according to Rep. Jamie Raskin on Sunday.
“I think that the Electoral College currently, which has delivered us five popular vote losers as president in our history — twice in this century alone,” the Maryland Democrat said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Raskin argued that it is past time for Americans to choose their presidents in the same manner that they choose their other public officials: by popular vote.
Raskin, a member of the House select committee that looked into the Capitol disturbances on January 6, said: “There are so many twisting by-ways and nooks and crannies in the Electoral College that there are potential for a lot of strategic mischief. It was a danger on January 6th.”
The Electoral Count Act of 1887 has governed the practical features of how the Electoral College operates for well over a century. The Electoral College was established by the Founding Fathers in the U.S. Constitution.
The House and Senate enacted an omnibus budget bill last week that includes changes to the Electoral Count Act. These modifications are made to counteract some of the actions taken by former President Donald Trump and his associates to challenge the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Raskin declared that while he supported the revisions, they didn’t go far enough.
“I support that. The absolute least we can and must do is that, he remarked. Although necessary, it is by no means adequate.
The most recent presidential contender to do so was Donald Trump in 2016; he defeated Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton despite trailing by roughly 3 million votes. George W. Bush in 2000, Benjamin Harrison in 1888, Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, and John Quincy Adams in 1824 were among of the others to do so.
Raskin claimed that one element of the American system that is not particularly popular abroad is the Electoral College.
He told the show’s host Margaret Brennan, “We spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year teaching American democracy to other nations, and the one thing they never come back to us with is the concept that, well, that Electoral College thing you have is so terrific. We anticipate adopting that as well.
