President-elect Donald Trump officially secured victory in the Electoral College on Tuesday, solidifying his win in the November 5 election as Republican electors gathered in state capitals nationwide. With Texas delivering the decisive votes that pushed Trump past the 270-electoral-vote threshold, the result leaves little room for suspense ahead of Congress’s final certification on January 6. This year the process is expected to proceed as a routine formality.
Trump won both the Electoral College and the popular vote, reinforcing his mandate as he prepares to assume office. The Republican victory has reignited longstanding debates over the fairness and relevance of the Electoral College. Several Democratic lawmakers renewed calls for its abolition, including Senators Brian Schatz, Dick Durbin, and Peter Welch, who introduced a constitutional amendment on Monday to eliminate the system, wrote The New York Post.
“No one’s vote should carry more weight based on where they live. The Electoral College is outdated and undemocratic. It’s time to end it,” Schatz stated while advocating for the proposal.
Despite their efforts, the amendment faces overwhelming political hurdles. Amending the Constitution requires approval from two-thirds of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states, a bar that remains virtually unattainable given the nation’s deep partisan divide.
Trump has staunchly defended the Electoral College, arguing that it compels candidates to appeal to voters across diverse geographic regions. He also suggested that Republicans might fare even better under a popular vote system if they shifted campaign efforts toward major urban areas.
The 2024 Electoral College vote was notably uneventful compared to 2020, when pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol in a failed attempt to disrupt the certification process. This year, heightened security measures ensured that proceedings unfolded without incident, and all electors cast their votes as pledged—for Trump or Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
Bipartisan reforms enacted in 2022 under the Electoral Count Reform Act have significantly reduced the potential for election-related challenges. The legislation raised the threshold for objections to electoral results to one-fifth of each chamber and clarified that the vice president has no unilateral authority to reject state-certified outcomes. These reforms aim to prevent the challenges that marred the previous certification process.
[Read More: Democrats Worried About Constitutional Convention]
