The history of the Electoral College
Fox News’ Todd Piro explains the Electoral College and the important role it plays in the 2020 race.
The Washington Post editorial board called over the weekend for the Electoral College to be abolished just days after media outlets projected Joe Biden to be the winner of the 2020 presidential election.
Biden is expected to earn 306 electoral votes after all the results are certified, the same number of electoral votes President Trump received in 2016.
Washington Post columnist and Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen pointed out last week that "a flip of just some 73,700 votes" in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Georgia would have handed President Trump a second term, but the board drew a "different conclusion" in a piece published on Sunday.
"It is alarming that a candidate came so close to winning while polling more than 5 million fewer votes than his opponent nationwide," it declared. "The electoral college, whatever virtues it may have had for the Founding Fathers, is no longer tenable for American democracy."
The piece accused states with smaller populations of having "disproportionate clout in our government" due to the structure of the Senate. The paper then called on elections to be nationalized instead of leaving states to impose their various standards.
"We believe that Mr. Trump’s election was a sad event for the nation; his reelection would have been a calamity; we hope Mr. Thiessen is wrong about 2024," it said. "But we would be making this argument no matter which party seemed likely to benefit.
"Americans are not going to be satisfied with leaders who have been rejected by a majority of voters, and they’re right not to be. It’s time to let the majority rule."
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Critics were not on board with the Post's idea.
"We must stand up and tell the truth about the #ElectoralCollege," The Heritage Foundation tweeted. "This founding institution protects against tyranny of the majority—and ensures that minority interests in a variety of geographic regions are protected."
"So when you said 'WE MUST RETURN TO NOOOORMMSSS' apparently you meant 'let's abolish all our founding institutions...'" podcast host Lyndsey Fifield wrote.
"Abolish the Washington Post Editorial Board," Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., quipped.