The Electoral College isn’t worth saving — even if it blocks a Trump win

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-harris-polls-swing-states-electoral-college-rcna177278

28 comments

  3. **From Hayes Brown, a writer and editor for MSNBC Daily:**

    The assumption was that the Electoral College math would continue to favor the GOP and disadvantage Democrats. But the main theme as we barrel toward [the 2024 presidential election](https://www.msnbc.com/2024-presidential-election) seems to be “expect the unexpected.” Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump remain frustratingly close in poll after poll, opening the door to a world where he wins the popular vote but [still loses the Electoral College](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/25/upshot/poll-trump-harris-election.html) and the presidency.

    If that were to happen, it would upend years of assumptions about the shape of American democracy. It has been Democrats who have been [clamoring the loudest](https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/jamie-raskin-right-electoral-college-threatens-democracy-rcna63346) for the vestigial organ that is the Electoral College to finally be excised from the Constitution. But even if Harris only wins thanks to an arcane formula devised over 200 years ago, there’s still no valid reason for keeping such an undemocratic institution around.

    **Read more:** [https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-harris-polls-swing-states-electoral-college-rcna177278](https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-harris-polls-swing-states-electoral-college-rcna177278)

  4. Yeah, even if it somehow saves us from Trump this time, it’s a fundamentally unfair system that privileges some people’s votes over others. It’s absolutely ridiculous, effectively nullifies the votes of millions of American’s, and I haven’t heard a single good argument for preserving it.

  5. It’s dumb. I’m tired of my vote mattering less than others just because I live in a certain state. It’s a federal job to represent all of us our votes should be equal

  6. It’s by far more likely to enable a Trump win.

    But in any event, having a system in place where the candidate with fewer votes can win is just absurdly and obviously not a good system.

  7. It’s a holdover from the slavery compromises of the post Revolutionary War era. It should have been struck from the books when we were passing all those amendments after the Civil War. It is inherently undemocratic and flawed from its birth.

  8. I always hear why should cali or New York but like why should PA either lol

  9. Okay fine, but who is seriously expecting Donald Trump to win the popular vote and lose the election? Or just win the popular vote at all?

  10. The entire process is outdated. The last several elections have come down to not just specific states, but specific areas within those states. The fact that a candidate can win the popular vote by several million votes and still not become the President makes us a laughing stock.

  11. You know all the MAGA voters who love the electoral college will lose their minds if Trump wins the popular vote but loses the EC.

  12. It has zero chance of being removed nor bypassed because enough red states can block a change.

    So, focus on the ACTUAL rules we have right now because wishful daydreaming is an express route to losing which, with this election, promises to be deadly to sooooooo many innocent people.

    ***VOTE BLUE and take someone with you to do the same!!!***

  13. Republicans are the only party in modern history to benefit from the EC.

    Meanwhile, people who vote in California, Alabama, etc… their votes (largely) don’t matter.

    You should all be furious that my vote is “worth” more than yours unless you live in the three closest swing states.

  14. ‘Save’? The EC is in no danger whatsoever. Love it or hate it, it’s not going anywhere.

  15. I’m almost 50. This was obvious at least from the time I learned about the Electoral College in high school, and it’s grown infinitely more useless in the decades since as the ability to manage millions of votes in a national election has gotten easier and easier.

    Kill the EC.
    Expand the House.
    Make DC a state. (And PR too, if they want it.)

    Let’s get modern, people. .

  16. This seems to be the majority opinion in this country right now.

    The kicker, of course, is that the Electoral College ignores such majorities.

  17. After this we need serious, constant agitation for reform.

    1. Ditch electoral college
    2. Fix Supreme Court
    3. Eliminate gerrymandering
    4. Voting rights reform
    5. DC and PR statehood

    This should be our platform for the next 4 years.

    We need to organize for it.

  18. How on earth does it block a trump win? He’s going to lose the popular vote by millions, but thanks to the electoral college it is going to be a complete coin flip on election night.

    You dont need to know anything about the electoral college beyond the fact that Republicans have won the popular vote 1 time since 1988 yet given us a republican president 4 times in that span

  19. Republicans should be supportive of removing it considering it’s basically been DEI for republican presidential candidates the past 20 years.

    Aka Providing support and outsize representation for marginalized / underrepresented interest groups.

  20. Our election should not depend on 5-7 states with a margin of error of 20-50 thousand votes while millions are voting

  21. It hasn’t been worth saving for an extremely long time – well pre-dating this election cycle. The issue is that Republicans want to maintain it as it is their only hope of gaining office and the Democrats have never had enough seats to get it removed. It requires a consitutional ammendment which, by design, is extremely difficult to achieve.

  22. The electoral college broke when they capped the house membership. The House should be able to grow with the population.

  23. General rule of thumb: If nobody is looking to copy your system…. your system is trash.

  24. Lol he’s not gonna win the popular vote. He never has, and he never will.

  25. Lmao Trump and every Republican president for 20 years would have lost the election if we had a popular vote. The fact that the title is “blocks Trump a win” is the stupidest thing ever

  26. The existence of the Electoral College can discourage voter participation, particularly in states that are heavily skewed toward one party. If citizens feel their votes won’t count, they may be less likely to engage in the democratic process.

  27. A) The electoral college would never block a Trump win- he’s lost the popular vote twice in a row and he’s surely not adding supporters

    2) Get rid of the fucking thing! It’s DEI for old white guys!

  28. If the GOP lost two election because of the EC while getting the popular vote, they would have gotten rid of it by now.

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