Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) will introduce Legislation today to get rid of the Electoral College, after Hillary Clinton lost the Presidential election despite leading in the popular vote.
"In my lifetime, I have seen two elections where the winner of the general election did not win the popular vote," Boxer said in a statement.
In 2012, Donald Trump tweeted, 'The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy. I couldn't agree more. One person, one vote!.
Trump called the Electoral College "genius" on Tuesday morning, despite past criticism.
She added that Clinton, whom she supported, is "on track to have received more votes than any other Presidential candidate in history except Barack Obama."
According to Pew, Clinton would be the fifth person to win the popular vote, but lose the election.
Boxer's Legislation would amend the Constitution to abolish the Electoral College. Even if it is approved by Congress it would need to be approved by three-fourths of the States within seven years before it would take effect.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed Legislation that will keep New York on the list of states that have joined the National Popular Vote Compact beyond 2018.
The new law amends a 2014 law that added New York to the Compact with a "sunset" date at the end of 2018. With his signature, the new bill has simply removed that original expiration date.
The Compact is an effort to build momentum to have states award their Electoral College votes based on who wins the National Popular Vote. By signing the Compact, New York pledges to award its 29 Electoral votes to the National Popular Vote winner, but only once enough other states have passed identical Legislation to make up a majority of the 538, 270, Electoral College votes.
Currently, 11 states have joined the compact through State Legislation, making up 165 of the 270 Electoral votes required to win the Presidency.
1. Maryland - 10
2. New Jersey - 14
3. Illinois - 20
4. Hawaii - 4
5. Washington - 12
6. Massachusetts - 11
7. District of Columbia - 3
8. Vermont - 3
9. California - 55
10. Rhode Island - 4
11. New York - 29
The U.S. Constitution allows States to determine on their own how they wish to award their Electoral votes. The Compact is essentially a Provisional Multi-State effort to avoid the arduous process of amending the Constitution.
"This action will help ensure every vote is treated equally and places New York at the forefront of the battle for fairer elections and strengthen our democracy," Cuomo said in a statement. "Making the national popular vote a binding one will enable all voices to be heard and encourage candidates to appeal to voters in all states."
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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