“No one should have their vote weighted differently based on their location. The Electoral College is an antiquated and undemocratic system that needs to be abolished,” Senator Schatz declared. The chances of the proposed amendment passing through both congressional chambers or obtaining the necessary approval from the majority of states are slim to none. In the recent November 5 election, Trump secured the popular vote, rendering any potential constitutional amendment irrelevant to the outcome.
During the electoral vote counting in Albany, New York City Mayor Eric Adams was captured giving a thumbs up gesture. The president-elect has defended the Electoral College, asserting that it forces candidates to campaign across diverse geographic areas. Furthermore, he suggested that Republicans might perform better in a popular vote scenario due to a shift in campaign focus towards densely populated urban areas.
While it is within the realm of possibility for faithless electors in certain states to voice dissent against a major-party candidate, as of mid-afternoon Tuesday, no such actions had been taken. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris, despite her defeat, maintained her Democratic electors without any public deviation. The electoral ballots, previously hurried out of the Senate chamber amidst pro-Trump riots aimed at disrupting the certification process of the 2020 election result, will now be forwarded to Washington for final validation.
Governor Kathy Hochul cast her electoral ballot in support of Vice President Kamala Harris. Recent bipartisan legislation passed in 2022 has made the challenge against state elector slates significantly more arduous, consequently reducing tensions surrounding this phase of the electoral process. This legislative change, known as the Electoral Count Reform Act, empowers the vice president, who presides over vote certification, to no longer possess the authority to discard contentious electors. Furthermore, a higher threshold is now required to raise an objection, necessitating the support of one-fifth of each chamber to proceed to a vote.
Historically, the losing side of an election has occasionally exploited the Jan. 6 ceremonies to voice grievances over their candidate’s defeat. For instance, in 2017, Representative Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) contested the certification of Trump’s victory by alleging that ten out of the twenty-nine electoral votes from Florida were irregularly cast by uncertified electors. Trump actively encouraged his congressional supporters to challenge his Electoral College defeat in 2020, citing allegations of unlawful expansions in mail-in voting and voter registration deadlines. Additionally, he unsuccessfully pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to unilaterally send back state elector states for further review.
