Dem lawmaker introduces resolution to ‘abolish’ Electoral College: How would it be done?

Rep. Steve Cohen, D-TN, introduced a resolution to the House Judiciary Committee Monday to abolish the Electoral College.

“More than a century ago, we amended our Constitution to provide for the direct election of U.S. Senators,” Rep. Cohen added in a statement. “It is past time to directly elect our President and Vice President. The Electoral College is a vestige of the 18th Century when voters didn’t know the candidates who now appear daily on their phones and television screens.”

Rep. Cohen added, “Last week’s mayhem at the Capitol shows that attempts to manipulate the Electoral College vote by politicians employing falsehoods is a real danger. The President should always be elected by the people, not by politicians.”

The following is Rep. Cohen’s proposed amendment:

“Article —

“Section 1.

“The President and Vice President shall be elected by the people of the several States and the district constituting the seat of government of the United States.

“Section 2.

“The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most populous branch of the legislature of the State; although Congress may establish uniform age qualifications.

“Section 3.

“Each elector shall cast a single vote for two persons who have consented to the joining of their names as candidates for President and Vice President. No elector shall be prohibited from casting a vote for a candidate for President or Vice President because either candidate, or both, are inhabitants of the same State as the elector.

“Section 4.

“The pair of candidates having the greatest number of votes for President and Vice President shall be elected.

“Section 5.

“The times, places, and manner of holding such elections and entitlement to inclusion on the ballot shall be determined by Congress.

“Section 6.

“The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death or any other disqualification of any candidate for President or Vice President before the day on which the President-elect or Vice President-elect has been chosen; and for the case of a tie in any election.

“Section 7.

“This article shall take effect one year after the first day of January following ratification.”.

In order to pass a constitutional amendment, it must “be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures,” according to the National Archives.

It only becomes an amendment when “it is ratified by three-fourths of the States (38 of 50 States).”