Beto O'Rourke calls Electoral College 'one of those bad compromises' like slavery or the three-fifths compromise

Beto O'Rourke joined several other Democratic presidential candidates in opposition to the Electoral College, calling the current system of electing a president "one of those bad compromises" that was made in the early days of the country's existence, according to The Washington Free Beacon. 

What exactly did O'Rourke say? "This is one of those bad compromises we made at day one in this country," O'Rourke said. "There are many others we can think of and they are all connected, including the value of some people based on the color of their skin. There is a legacy and a series of consequences that have persisted and remain with us to this day."

"In this conversation about how we repair the damage, how we make things right, and how we keep from committing the same injustice going forward is squarely connected to the reason that we are all convened here today and that is fixing our democracy," O'Rourke continued. "So yes, if we get rid of the Electoral College, we get a little bit closer to one person, one vote in the United States of America."

What is he talking about? Some politicians and constitutional scholars argue that the Electoral College is a vestige of slavery, created to ensure that pro-slavery southern states were not overpowered electorally by the northern states, which had many more eligible votersand thus would carry more significant influence in a popular voting system.

Comments