Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Tuesday said calls by Democrats to abolish the Electoral College are being driven by a desire to minimize rural America’s influence on politics.
“The desire to abolish the Electoral College is driven by the idea Democrats want rural America to go away politically,” Graham said on Twitter, linking to a Fox News report on Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) call to move to a national popular vote for presidential elections.
{mosads}Warren, who is running for president, came out in support of eliminating the Electoral College on Monday night during a CNN town hall in Mississippi.
“Every vote matters,” Warren said. “And the way we can make that happen is that we can have national voting and that means get rid of the Electoral College.”
Warren justified her stance by noting that the presidential candidates don’t spend much time in nonswing states such as Mississippi, Massachusetts and California.
President Trump lost the popular vote to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016, even though he defeated her in the Electoral College. In 2000, President George W. Bush won the Electoral College after the disputed contest in Florida, even as he lost the popular vote to Democrat Al Gore.
The push to move away from the Electoral College has gained increased traction since Trump’s election, with several Democratic-leaning states entering a National Popular Vote Interstate Compact that calls for bypassing the Electoral College in favor of the national popular vote.
The compact cannot go into effect until the coalition includes states that accumulate at least 270 electoral votes.
South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg is another potential Democratic presidential candidate who has called for eliminating the Electoral College. Buttigieg, who launched a 2020 exploratory committee earlier this year, has said that the system is becoming “less and less democratic.”