In an interview with Good Morning America anchor Michael Strahan, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz seemed to reiterate his support for abolishing the Electoral College. “I have spoken about it in the past, that [Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris has] been very clear on this, and the campaign. And my position is the campaign’s position,” Walz stated.
Walz made headlines earlier this week during a fundraiser at California Governor Gavin Newsom’s residence, where he expressed his belief that the Electoral College “needs to go” in favor of a “national popular vote”. “But that’s not the world we live in. So we need to win Beaver County, Pennsylvania. We need to be able to go into York, Pennsylvania, win. We need to be in western Wisconsin and win. We need to be in Reno, Nevada and win,” he added.
“The point I’m trying to make is that there’s folks that feel every vote must count in every state. And I think some folks feel that’s not the case. Our campaign does that. And the point I’m saying is I’m in five states in two days,” Walz told Strahan.
The Electoral College, established by the U.S. Constitution, consists of 538 electors, with each state allocated a number based on its representation in Congress—equal to its total number of Senators and Representatives. When citizens cast their votes for president, they are actually voting for a slate of electors pledged to support their chosen candidate. A candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes (at least 270) to win the presidency. The system can result in scenarios where a candidate wins the presidency without securing the nationwide popular vote. Hillary Clinton’s victory in the popular vote during the 2016 election is a notable example of this.
When the electoral college system was established, it served a very specific purpose. At a time in history when travel was difficult and perilous–and very few people ever left their place of birth– the population was scattered and most of the territory was wilderness. It made more sense therefore, to send a chosen citizen to cast a vote that represented the will of the people who had delegated their individual votes to him. The system has remained intact even though the basic need for it has long disappeared. The electoral college is simply a vestige of the sparsely populated America that existed at the time of its founding.
In response to media inquiries about whether Harris shared his views, a campaign official clarified that “getting rid of the Electoral College is not a campaign position.” However, Harris had previously indicated her openness to discussing the elimination of the Electoral College. In a March 2019 interview with Jimmy Kimmel, she said, “I think that it’s — I’m open to the discussion. I mean, there’s no question that the popular vote has been diminished in terms of making the final decision about who’s the president of the United States and we need to deal with that.”
