Professor Larson Comments on Electoral College Reform for KFBK

Professor Carlton Larson commented for Sacramento news radio station KFBK on proposed legislation by California Senator Barbara Boxer that would abolish the Electoral College and allow the popular vote to determine presidential elections.  Boxer’s proposal comes in the wake of the 2016 vote, which proved to be the fifth instance in American history in which the Electoral College awarded the presidency to a candidate who did not win the popular vote.

Larson said that Boxer’s proposal would be unlikely to receive the two-thirds support required in both the Senate and the House needed to pass a constitutional amendment, and even if it did, it would still need to be ratified by three-fourths of the states.

“Thirteen states could block it and there’s at least 13 states that benefit from the current Electoral College system and wouldn’t want to see it change,” Larson said.

The proposal known as the National Popular Vote Plan might have a better chance at success, he said. “This is an idea where you get the legislatures of enough states that total 270 electoral votes to agree among themselves that they will cast their electoral votes for the national popular vote winner,” said Larson.

Carlton Larson's research interests focus on constitutional law and legal history, with a strong emphasis on the 18th century.