Sanders: U.S. should ‘rethink’ Electoral College

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) thinks the U.S. needs to have a “serious” discussion about the future of the Electoral College.

{mosads}”We may want to take a look at the whole Electoral College, which is seating a man for president who didn’t get the most votes. This is something we need a serious discussion on,” Sanders said.

Republican Donald Trump was elected president last week, winning the Electoral College but losing the popular vote. Hillary Clinton became the second Democratic presidential candidate in the last five presidential elections to win the popular vote but lose the presidency, after Al Gore in 2000. Such a defeat has previously happened only two other times in American history, both in the 1800s.  

In an interview with USA Today, Sanders said the results of electing a president through the Electoral College is that some states get attention in the contest and others do not.

“This campaign revolved around 15 states of the country, right? Battleground states. My state of Vermont is a strong Democratic state; no one paid attention. Wyoming is a Republican state; nobody paid attention to Wyoming. Is that a good way?”

Asked if it would be good to change the Electoral College, Sanders said: “I think you ought to think about this. … I think we want to rethink that.”

Millions of people have signed a petition encouraging electors to pick her over Trump when they formally vote Dec. 19.

Trump himself has criticized the Electoral College. He called it a “disaster for democracy” in 2012.