Should We Abandon the Electoral College? Maryland’s Raskin Tells Pennsylvania Democrats It’s Time

Every four years, Pennsylvania becomes the center of the political universe thanks to the quirks of the Electoral College system.

But perhaps even politicians in the state are growing tired of the incessant election ads that are an inevitable part of being a top battleground.

U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) drew applause Tuesday when he addressed the Pennsylvania delegation at the Democratic National Convention and suggested the country should instead switch to a popular vote system.

“It’s an honor to address a delegation that is so important to the fate of our party, the fate of our country,” Raskin said. “I thought to myself, if we didn’t have the Electoral College, every vote would count the same across the country, and we’d be everywhere. So the system is a little weird.”

Abolishing the Electoral College would require a change to the Constitution.

Raskin, a constitutional law professor who has become a popular defender of Democratic candidates across the country, said he thinks constitutional reform will be enacted.

“I’m thinking, ‘Hey, it’s 2024. It’s time to start electing a president the way we elect governors, representatives, senators,'” he said. “We’ll get to it. We’ll get to it.”

The Electoral College has benefited Republicans in recent years. In the past three decades, only one Republican presidential candidate has won the popular vote, and that was former President George W. Bush’s wartime re-election campaign in 2004.

Both Bush in 2000 and former President Donald Trump in 2016 lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College and became president.

While Raskin supports reform, he said Democrats must focus on ensuring Vice President Kamala Harris wins key battleground states that will decide who wins the Electoral College.

“We’re going to have to look at the legislation as it stands, and that means Pennsylvania and Michigan and Arizona and Nevada are right in the middle of the voting,” he said.