By Stephen Magruder
To all the U.S. voters who want direct presidential elections instead of the Electoral College system: The Humane Party agrees with you.
It’s time for change.
Nearly six weeks after Election Day, more than 300 of the nation’s 538 Electoral College voters helped to officially elect Donald Trump as the 45th President of The United States – despite the fact that Hillary Clinton earned nearly 3 million more popular votes.
Monday marked the second time in 16 years and the fifth time in U.S. history that a presidential candidate has lost the popular vote but won the majority of Electoral College votes.
Calls to abolish the Electoral College system, which currently requires 270 votes to win, spread on social media following Trump’s victory in the Nov. 8 general election. Protestors who gathered outside state capitols on Monday sought to persuade Electoral College voters not to cast ballots for Trump – the first person in U.S. history to be elected without any previous government or military experience.
The Humane Party, unlike the Republican and Democratic Parties of the United States, seeks to replace the Electoral College system with democratic elections of the President and Vice President – also known as the “popular vote” – through ratification of its Democracy Amendment.
“The Humane Party has proposed the abolition of the Electoral College since its founding. If this past election was run lawfully, there is nothing at this point you can do to change its outcome,” Humane Party CEO Robin Miller posted on Facebook Monday evening. “It’s the political system we are stuck in because too many people don’t want to work to change it. Put your time and effort into something that can change this for future elections – support the Democracy Amendment. Even if you don’t want to work with HP, take this amendment proposal to those legislators you do support and get it passed.”
Ratification of the Democracy Amendment would require approval from two-thirds of voting members from both chambers of Congress and 38 state legislatures.
Trump received 304 Electoral College votes on Monday from electors throughout the nation who pledged to elect the Republican Party’s candidate, compared to 227 votes for Clinton, the Democratic Party candidate, according to The New York Times.
Two of Trump’s original 306 electors from 30 states and five of Clinton’s original 232 electors from 20 states and the District of Columbia voted for someone other than them on Monday.
Electoral votes will be officially counted on Jan. 6. Trump’s Inauguration Day is Jan. 20.
Anyone interested in supporting or volunteering for The Humane Party is encouraged to visit https://humanepartyusa.wordpress.com/.
The Humane Herald 