Warren calls for abolishing Electoral College

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Monday called for abolishing the Electoral College and moving to a national popular vote for presidential elections.

Warren, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, said during a CNN town hall in Mississippi that her view “is that every vote matters.”

“And the way we can make that happen is that we can have national voting and that means get rid of the Electoral College,” she added.

2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren calls for abolishing the Electoral College and moving to a national popular vote: “Every vote matters” #WarrenTownHall https://t.co/pPFMVywETf pic.twitter.com/yy0J0HgAjc

— CNN (@CNN) March 19, 2019

{mosads}Warren added that she wanted to push the message in Mississippi because, during a general election, “candidates don’t come to places like Mississippi” or other non-swing states.

“They also don’t come to places like California and Massachusetts because we’re not the battleground states,” she noted. “We need to make sure that every vote counts.” 

South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a fellow Democratic presidential candidate, has also called for getting rid of the Electoral College, saying earlier this year that it has made the U.S. “less and less democratic.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is also seeking the nomination after an unsuccessful campaign in the previous election, in 2016 called for a “reassessment” of the Electoral College.

The push to consider moving to a national popular vote comes as several Democratic states in recent years have entered into the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an agreement that would essentially bypass the Electoral College if enough states join.

The Electoral College has faced renewed scrutiny from the left after 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election despite winning the national popular vote by just under 3 million votes. President Trump won the Electoral College, though, by a margin of 304 to 227.

And in 2000, Republican nominee George W. Bush won the Electoral College vote over then-Vice President Al Gore while losing the national popular vote by little more than 540,000 votes.

Updated at 10:28 p.m.