California Senator Barbara Boxer Introduces Bill To Abolish Electoral College
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) Tuesday introduced a bill that would amend the Constitution of the United States to abolish the Electoral College system and determine the winner of presidential elections by the popular vote.
Despite President-elect Donald Trump's victory in the Electoral College, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton currently leads the popular vote by nearly 1 million votes.
According to current results, Clinton has 61,329,657 votes, and Trump has 60,530,867.
This is the fifth time in history that a nominee has won the popular vote but not the Electoral College.
The same happened to Al Gore in 2000, when he lost to George W. Bush.
"In my lifetime, I have seen two elections where the winner of the general election did not win the popular vote," the senator said. "The Electoral College is an outdated, undemocratic system that does not reflect our modern society, and it needs to change immediately. Every American should be guaranteed that their vote counts."
The long-shot proposed amendment would take effect only if it is ratified by three-fourths of the states within seven years after its passage by Congress.
In 2012, Trump denounced the Electoral College. But on Tuesday, he defended it.
The president-elect also refuted arguments that Hillary Clinton should have won the presidential race because she won the popular vote.