Sanders repeats call for Electoral College revision
US Senator Bernie Sanders, who was one of the 2016 Democratic presidential candidates, has renewed his call for a “re-examination” of the Electoral College system, saying it was not fair to some states during the November 8 presidential vote.
Speaking to CNN on Sunday, Sanders said Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s defeat against President-elect Donald Trump, despite winning the popular vote, was “weird” and urged a review in the voting system.
“We have one candidate who got 2 million more voters than the other candidate, but she is not going to be sworn in as president,” the Vermont senator said. “I think on the surface that's a little bit weird.”
“The second thing that bothers me, as everybody knows, during the campaign, we have states — California, New York and many others — that are traditionally Democrat and a whole lot of other states that are traditionally Republican. The needs and the people of those states are ignored during the political process,” Sanders said.
“And then what ends up happening is campaigns are basically about 16, 17 states, battleground states, in this country, and I think that's unfair to the other 30-plus states that would also like to be part of the political process,” the lawmaker said.
Trump was able to clench a historic victory over Clinton by winning 306 electoral votes. The former secretary of state took 232 votes after losing key states.
Less than a week after the election, Sanders said the outcome necessitated a “serious discussion” on the concept of electoral votes.
The senator, who ran an unsuccessful nomination campaign against Clinton in the primaries, renewed his call in the wake of an attempt by Green Party’s nominee Jill Stein to recount votes in some states.
She has called for an audit and recount of voting results in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Wisconsin election officials said Friday that her request was accepted and the recount would begin soon.
Following the announcement, the Clinton campaign said its representatives would join the effort to make sure Trump’s election was “fair.”
Despite attacking the Electoral College before the election, Trump hailed the body’s “genius” role in the process after his election.
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