Hochul backs abolishing the Electoral College

As she presided over New York’s Electoral College vote on Tuesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul called for the Electoral College to be replaced with a national popular vote. “It’s time to amend the Constitution and relegate the institution of the Electoral College to the history books,” she said.

Hochul and other New York Democratic power players gathered in the state Capitol to officially cast the state’s 28 Electoral College votes for Vice President Kamala Harris. The governor led the process, expressing a sense of pride for participating in the historic practice that dates back to the nation’s founding. “But for some like me, there’s also a questioning,” Hochul said. She said that in many ways, people today “honor the genius, the talent and the wisdom of our founding fathers,” but there are still “shortcomings” from their work. “The Electoral College does not contribute to the overriding objectives set forth in our Constitution,” Hochul said.

The governor called for amending the U.S. Constitution to eliminate the Electoral College in favor of a national popular vote system. “As governor of the Empire State and president of this Electoral College, I’m ready to do my part,” Hochul said. A spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment on what that would look like.

The governor said that the current practice of the Electoral College “unfairly” benefits less populous states by giving them an “outsized influence” in the election process, both through the distribution of electors and by diminishing campaigning to a handful of swing states. It’s a common refrain among big state politicians and those who represent highly partisan states like New York.

“In the worst case scenario, it means that a person can become president of the United States even if he or she did not win the popular vote,” Hochul said. She cited the 2016 election, when President-elect Donald Trump won his first term in office despite losing the popular vote. This year, he won both the Electoral College and the popular vote. Since the founding of the country, five candidates have become president without winning the popular vote.

Hochul has at least one supporter in New York. State Sen. James Skoufis, who is running a longshot bid for chair of the Democratic National Committee, said on social media he backs the idea of a national popular vote. “Seven out of 50 states should not decide every presidential election,” he wrote on X. “One person, one vote.”

Hochul’s comments on the Electoral College came a day after three progressive Democrats in the U.S. Senate introduced a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College. The amendment faces long odds of becoming law, though. An amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires the support of a two-thirds majority in both chambers of Congress and ratification by at least three-fourths of states (that is, 38 states).

It is also possible to amend the U.S. Constitution through a constitutional convention, though this has never happened in U.S. history. That process would originate with the states if two-thirds of legislatures call for it. Conservative activists have pushed for a convention, and a campaign to enact one has gained popularity in conservative circles since the rise of Trump. Democrats and good government groups have opposed that push.

Since 2014, New York has been part of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an agreement among a group of mostly blue states that have agreed to honor the popular vote. In the case that the popular vote winner is not on track to win the Electoral College, participating states have agreed to pledge their delegates to that ticket to ensure its electoral victory. The compact, which began after the 2000 election of former President George W. Bush, will only go into effect once states representing a majority of electoral votes have signed on to it.