Court Battles

Ginsburg calls proposal to eliminate Electoral College ‘more theoretical than real’

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Monday called eliminating the Electoral College more “theoretical than real” due to the difficulty of amending the Constitution. 

“It’s largely a dream because our Constitution is … hard to amend,” Ginsburg said at the University of Chicago, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “I know that from experience.” 

Ginsburg, one of the court’s liberal justices, has previously said she would support getting rid of the Electoral College.

{mosads}”There are some things I would like to change, one is the Electoral College,” Ginsburg said in 2017. “But that would require a constitutional amendment, and amending our Constitution is powerfully hard to do.”

The Electoral College came under renewed scrutiny following the 2016 presidential election, when Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Donald Trump won the presidency due to the Electoral College. Similarly, George W. Bush became president in 2000 despite losing the popular vote to Democratic opponent Al Gore. 

Ginsburg has made a series of public appearances following a Supreme Court announcement that she had undergone cancer treatment. 

The Supreme Court’s next term is slated to begin on Oct. 7.