Reports: Dem Senators Move to Abolish Electoral College

Leading Democratic senators are expected to introduce a constitutional amendment Tuesday to abolish the Electoral College, Politico reported.

The measure will be initially supported by Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who is running for president, the outlet reported.

Besides Gillibrand, other Democrats in the presidential primary race — including Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., along with former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and ex-Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro — also have come around to the idea, NBC News reported.

"We should abolish the Electoral College," Castro said at a 2020 Democratic candidate forum in Washington on Monday, NBC News reported. "It doesn't reflect the will of the people of the country."

A constitutional amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds supermajority in both the House and Senate and requires ratification by 38 states.

Two of the past three presidents — George W. Bush and Donald Trump — have lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College. But defenders of the Electoral College say it protects the interests of smaller and more rural states.

• New Law Would Prevent Trump's Electoral College Victory
• Poll: More Voters Favor Popular Vote Over Electoral College