The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College

FEATURING JESSE WEGMAN – With the 2020 Presidential race reduced down to one candidate from each major party, the two presumptive nominees, Joe Biden and Donald Trump will face one another in a general election this November.

Which means now is the perfect time to remind ourselves that Americans don’t actually vote directly for president – we vote in an electoral college that determines who the president will be. Given that our current president won the electoral college vote in 2016 and yet lost the popular vote by 3 million ballots, is there any more evidence needed that the current system is flawed?

Jesse Wegman, member of the New York Times editorial board, writing editorials on the Supreme Court and legal affairs. He was previously a senior editor at the Daily Beast and Newsweek, a legal news editor at Reuters and the managing editor of the New York Observer. His new book is called Let The People Pick The President: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College.

** This segment was originally broadcast on April 10, 2020.